Simple Sunset
by momo-x-11
Summary: Her entire life can be summarized in four words: She is somebody's daughter. A 17 year old girl's last days of life will find meaning when she stumbles upon the third music room. Tamaki/OC, Tamaki/Haruhi
1. Chapter 1

Needles.

So many needles. How many times had she been pricked in the last month? At least ten. While getting the biopsy, she vowed to never wear earrings again, much less be near any form of syringe. It was such a relief when they told her that the last test, an MRI, did not require any injections.

So far, she kept her promise. Every pair of earrings she owned were thrown out the day after her biopsy, and she had not looked back once. Every brooch, every tack and pin she spotted on her dresser or on the floor, she disposed of. She felt slight anxiety around anything sharper than a pen cap.

Her mother did not confront her when her own earrings were being moved or disappearing entirely. Not that she disciplined the girl often, but there was something strange in the mother and daughter's relationship. Was she avoiding her? And her father was at the hospital as soon as he came home from work. Even for her parents, that was strange behavior.

Maybe they caught what she had. In her condition, being social was definitely not something she was crazy about right now. She wished the doctors would hurry up and give her medicine already. She was tired of having stomach aches.

xxxx

She was not wearing earrings the day the results came in.

"I'm not going to have to take another test am I?" She asked whichever parent was listening from the backseat of the BMW. "This was the last one, right?"

Neither parent answered quickly. Her father glanced at his wife before turning his attention back to the road. Her mother took it upon herself to address their child.

"No, the MRI was the last one."

"Do I have bronchitis or pneumonia? Why are there so many tests? Have the doctors said anything?"

They pretended not to hear her.

"Mom! Hey, I'm pregnant!" That might shock her mother into paying attention.

"Stop bugging your mother. We won't know what it is for sure until we get these results back."

She knew they would not answer anymore of her questions. Once they decided she was "bugging" them, any outburst from her usually resulted in the threat of having one of her possessions confiscated. Getting it back would entail her having to make a lengthy speech about what she did wrong and why it reflected badly on herself and parents. It was not worth the hassle. She shrugged it off and put in the ear phones connected to her mp3 player.

xxxx

She could have given the nurses directions around the hospital for how well she knew it by now, Her parents obviously shared this knowledge as well, she would have been left behind if she did not already know whose office they were headed to. Why are they in a rush?.

She chatted with a nurse while her parents spoke to the doctor in private. The nurse was going through a very technical explanation of what exactly an MRI was when she saw her mother run out of the office. Her father came out a second later and ran after her.

She instinctively made to run after them, but her name was called by a man with a very disturbed expression in the doorway of her doctor's office. It was not her regular doctor. This man was older. He was rounder and his glasses were crooked. She noticed the crooked glasses the most.

He was visibly upset but his tone was professional. "Hello. I'm Dr. Harris. I'm a medical oncologist."

She guessed at what an oncologist was. She shook his outstretched hand and asked if the papers he was holding were the results of her MRI.

"Yes, these are the results. I've gone over the diagnosis with your parents and well...," he looked accusingly at the closed door her parents escaped from moments before, "well, anyway... Would you like to see them?"

Dr. Harris kept the top papers that looked a little like x-rays, and handed her the small stack underneath. Eager to finally have some answers, she devoured the small print. While she read, the doctor hung the not x-rays from a lighted backboard that made what was on them much easier to see.

**Name: Ellen Rae Adan. Age: 16. Height: 5'7"**... yadda yadda yadda...

"I want you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say, Ellen," he pointed a wrinkled finger at what she assumed was an organ, "This is your pancreas. Now, this isn't the best angle but you see this spot here? These are malignant cells..."

Dr. Harris's words faded out of her consciousness. She read over the small passage three times more.

**Diagnosis: Stage 1 Pancreatic Carcinoma.**

Pancreatic Cancer.

xxxx

8 months later.

Just eight months. That was all the time it took to abandon her previous life. Driving away all of your friends takes much longer after they find out you have cancer. They are all so sorry and you are in a never-ending time of need where they cannot possibly leave you. No, you are dying; there is no way they would leave you, no matter how much you protest. She shuddered to think of how long it would have taken if she had any close family. Thankfully, most of her parent's relatives were either dead or estranged.

If she had known what a real family was, she might have never boarded the huge commercial plane headed for Japan. She would not be sitting in her own private section of first class, being offered anything she could imagine, staring at the clouds below out of a small window.

An attendant approached her with a cart full of drinks and food. Ellen knew it was about to stop beside her. She heard the woman's footsteps slow down.

Ellen continued to look out of the window."Go away," she said simply.

She thought she heard a dry laugh come out of the woman. Ignoring the girl's warning, the attendant refilled the half full glass of grape juice Ellen had set down on the surface in front of her. The tan blankets that Ellen had folded and placed beside her were already in the woman's arms when she finally turned away from the window.

The tall red-head looked just as unamused as Ellen felt, despite the smile she wore. "I just wanted to make sure you were awake., Miss Adan. We're about to begin the descent, so finish this glass fast. Is there anything you needed before we turn on the fasten seat belt light?"

"No thanks. _Now_ go away."

Thankful for the dismissal, the woman guided the cart to the next first class passenger, slightly bowing to Ellen as she left.

As soon as the woman offered the man a refill on his champagne, Ellen took the glass and emptied its contents into the compartment reserved for the large, noise canceling headphones. Hers – well, they were the airlines, but were reserved for her - were still in there.

"Ma'am? I'm finished with this glass. May I have another?"

xxxx

Ellen stepped out of the gate and pulled out a satellite phone. The line rang three times before a woman on the other end picked up.

"Mom? I just landed."

Bunkyo Airport was less crowded than she imagined. She expected to be shoulder to shoulder with a large group of people, fighting her way to her waiting car. Her vision of Japan was an over-abundance of people, no personal space and restaurants run by people wearing kimonos. But everything was very modern. If there were more signs displaying English words, the airport could have been in the states. Why had she expected paper doors and geishas?

Her mother's voice sounded distracted. Ellen could hear papers shuffling. She could picture her sitting at the table, going over paperwork while balancing the phone between her ear and shoulder.

"Shouldn't you be talking in Japanese?" her mother said. "You don't want to forget everything you've learned. Those five months of tutoring weren't for nothing, I hope."

Ellen read a sign that indicated the exit for passenger pickup. Her baggage would be picked up by someone she did not know and brought to the academy, so she did not stop in baggage claim.

"You can barely understand Japanese, mom. Trying to talk to you would just be frustrating."

Her mother ordered the housekeeper, Jessica, to check on the dinner being prepared. Ellen forgot it was dinner time back in Texas. And yesterday.

"Yes, yes... Well I hope everything goes ok. Call me when you get to the academy. I have to go. Good luck."

Ellen's goodbye was out done by the crash of what sounded like a pot falling and then her mother's yells. "Call ended" flashed on her cell phone. Ellen sighed and returned her cell phone to the pink shoulder bag she carried. When she looked up, she saw a glimpse of a hand-held sign with her last name on it. She headed towards it.

Ouran Academy was much more glamorous than she was ever led to believe. Every picture she ever saw was a lie. No two dimensional snapshot came close to the grandeur of the enormous academy.

It was more a palace than anything.

It annoyed her.

She was not sure why, but the light pink walls, white marble floors, and towering staircases put her in a foul mood. Beautiful as the school was, Ellen wondered if it was all necessary. Just how rich were the kids who enrolled here? Was there anything normal in this school? Everywhere she looked there was something declaring the wealth of the school: a statue, a painting, large, overstuffed furniture. She could not get to the admissions office fast enough.

Maybe she was just jet-lagged. She would feel more kindly toward the school tomorrow.

Maybe not.

* * *

So there was my first chapter of my first attempt at a story.

There's not much to do with Ouran in here _yet, _but I promise you it's coming. I just wanted to kinda build a character and get a little background in there first. I purposely went fast-paced cuz I know whoever reads this will want me to get to the tamaki, haruhi, kyoya, etc. moments.

The next chapter will be much better. At least I'll try to make it that way.

Also, I don't know much about Japan so anything I say in future chapters will be based on what I think of it and any research I do. Let's just pretend we're in my own universe and this is how Japan is.

So keep reading and review if you want. I'd like to hear from you :]


	2. Chapter 2

Quick little a/n: there is going to be some bashing on things like the uniforms and, if you remember, the school itself. I cannot stress how much I love everything about Ouran. These criticisms are only to show the mindset that Ellen is in (she's pretty negative). These are her opinions.

Don't kill me.

Disclaimer: Bisco Hatori is a creative, hilarious, lovely lady, and definitely not me. These are her characters (mostly), this is her academy, and I am just a fan.

* * *

Ellen Adan woke up with a song in her head.

It had come to her in a dream.

She could not remember what the lyrics were, but she knew it had something to do with death. Or was it a flower? A dying flower? Whatever. It was already seven. Time to shower and make her lunch.

She was proud of her quick assimilation to the Japanese clock. Midnight was not a particularly desirable time to finally fall asleep, but Ellen could not tell the sleeping pills when to kick in. She would have to take them much earlier, though. She still felt groggy, as if she were in a haze.

Luckily, the bathroom door was close to the bed and, therefore, so were the caffeine pills she kept. The pills could react negatively with each other, but what of it? What were they going to do, kill her? Ellen smiled at the thought as she lifted her tired body off of the bed.

Two steps and she was opening the bathroom door. She approached the drawer wher the pills were kept and noticed her reflection.

What was she thinking when she bought this horrible nightgown? Ellen watched herself criticize her attire in the large mirror above her faux stone counter top. Pink leopard print? And it was too short. She knew what she was going to do after school. Her gaze traveled up to her hair. The roots were coming through. At her part, she could see the quarter of an inch of blonde. She would also need to pick up dark brown hair-dye when she went out after school. Maybe she should make a list?

Ellen dry swallowed one of the pills and shed the garish sleep attire.

She stood under the shower head, contemplating where she could go and purchase these things while waiting for the water to warm. She realized she knew little to nothing of the city of Bunkyo. Why had she not explored the town yesterday? There was no use regretting that now. If she was going to survive, she had to do one of two things: make a friend, or hire a long term driver.

The school would know a place where she could hire a driver.

xxxx

"The classroom is on the far west side of the academy," the groundskeeper told her.

The way he said it made it seem closer than it was.

Ellen felt sick walking to this class. She did not eat breakfast, she mixed sleeping pills and caffeine, and, of course, she had cancer. It could have been either of these things. She could eat part of the lunch she prepared, but what would she have if lunch time came around and she was still hungry? Their food? Not likely. Anyway, her classroom was just down the hall so she would have to wait until afterward to throw up or eat.

It was nice to see that the classroom was almost normal. There were books, desks, and it even had a chalkboard. Everything looked new and expensive and there was a very nice yellow peony plant in the back corner. The walls were still pink and the floors were still marble, and it was still _huge _and palace-like,but she could get used to it. It really did not look like a normal classroom, but so what? There was still a chalkboard.

"Hello, miss. Are you new to this class?"

Ellen turned towards the female voice and found a very tall, blonde, foreign woman looking at her kindly. Her attractiveness was fair. Ellen guessed she was Swedish or German, maybe even French. The lack of an accent made it difficult to place her. There was also the distraction of her clothes. The outfit consisted of an ankle length black skirt, a white collared long-sleeved shirt under a black sweater, and slippers, black ones. What was this woman trying to pass off as?

"My name is Ellen Adan. Is this class B-2 with Mrs. Nasman?"

The woman smiled and gently nudged Ellen further from the door.

"You need to work on your Japanese. You are in the right place, young one. Come to my desk, I'll give you everything you need."

Ellen stood in her yellow dress uniform, watching the students come in. The one thing she noticed was the immaculate posture each one possessed. Every one of them could have been royalty. Some of them probably were. There had to have been at least one in this school,.

"Miss Adan?"

Ellen turned to Mrs. Nasman. The teacher flashed the same kind smile.

"Here is the textbook you will be using in this class and a few extra tools you will need during the year. Consider them yours."

The rest of Mrs. Nasman's speech faded away. Ellen's attention was on the mole she spotted on the earlobe of the woman speaking to her. She must have enough money to get that removed, why would she keep it there? At least wear earrings to camouflage it. It was so dark.

"Come, let me introduce you."

Knocked out of her concentration, Ellen caught only the word "introduce" and assumed she meant to tell the class her name.

Ellen spent the rest of the class like this, dividing her attention between the lesson and her peers and sometimes focusing on finding comfortable positions her uniform dress would allow. How did these girls do it? The skirt is so big. Does it get easier with practice? She looked over at the girl closest to her and copied her position, only to rearrange herself again. She could not sit up that straight for long.

Any and all lessons she learned in the full two weeks spent in etiquette class were long gone. She had never expected the need for them to ever arise in her life, so why not let them go? Ellen could not recall if she was even taught how to sit comfortably and proper in a dress in her classes, but maybe she-

"Ellen, do you want to solve this?"

Mrs. Nasman's eyes met her own when she looked up, called to attention by her name. Ellen examined the chalkboard for a hint of where the class was at. Just her luck, about ten different problems were drawn in neat handwriting. But, look. One seems to be unanswered. Apparently, they were learning about kinetic energy. She had not studied that in her previous school.

There was only one way to answer the teacher. "No," she said, and copied the problem into her notebook so she would be ready to write down the answer.

The entire room paused at once.

Ellen did not need to look up to know that every head was up and all eyes were on her. As if on cue, the attention of the class turned to the teacher who was standing and darting her gaze between all of the eyes of her students, nervously.

A light titter of a laugh floated past her lips.

"Miss Adan, I asked you to solve the problem." She tapped her chalk on the unanswered equation as if she knew she was lost. She still spoke in a nervous voice: high pitched, jittery, and overly friendly, much like her laugh. "This one right here. Would you like to be walked through the steps to solve it?"

"I don't know the answer, Mrs. Nasman." Ellen craned her neck over the gap between her desk and the boy to her immediate right's desk. A quick look gave her the impression that the equation was answered in his notebook. She returned to the upright position in her chair, apathetic to the boy's stares. "This guy seems to have the right idea, ask _him_."

Poor Mrs. Nasman was at a loss for words. Should she save face and continue after Ellen or get on with the class before the exchange escalated into something that could jeopardize her career?

"I... uh- well, uh... Mr. Takahashi, would you like to answer this?"

xxxx

At lunch, Ellen ate in the courtyard.

She would have liked to find a banquet hall or cafeteria of some sort, but the students seemed to be avoiding her. Anytime she tried to approach someone, they suddenly darted away or changed course and distanced themselves from her. She had no idea why.

In the end, she decided it was best that she did not find the hall. She did not want to eat around so many snobbish people anyway. Especially when they were so obviously dodging her.

The courtyard was better atmosphere. She was surrounded by many lively plants and large decorative arches, and the student population was not as concentrated. The benches were made of stone and were not very comfortable, but she was out of the school and in the fresh air. Ellen was so pleased, she actually felt like eating.

She was enjoying the sugar coated strawberries she prepared when she overheard a group of girls talking excitingly and giggling. They were in her vicinity, and Ellen had nothing better to think about. Her gaze drifted and lowered to the black strap shoes they all wore, herself included. The three girls continued to walk past Ellen and sat on a bench behind her, out of her sight.

Girl number one was the easiest voice to follow, she was the loudest. "Tamaki! He's my preference, but nearly everyone asks for him, so I can rarely get time."

A younger girl - girl number two - responded, "Tamaki is nice, but don't you think Hunny-chan is so cute? He's so small and sweet."

Girl number three was the quietest. "Are you talking about the Host Club? I thought that was just a myth..."

Both girls one and two simultaneously gasped. Ellen could picture extremely shocked expressions spoiling their pretty features. Another strawberry blocked any negative remarks she had.

"You can't be serious," number one exclaimed, "I don't believe you've never visited the third music room. I won't believe it!"

"Chisa, of course they're real! Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachin are in your class!"

Number three replaced number one as the loudest girl.

"The twins are in the club? We need to go now! Where is the third music room?"

Ellen inconspicuously put the lid back on her tupperware containing the strawberries and quickly returned it to her pink shoulder bag. She could hear the girls scrambling to their feet.

"We'll take you!"

The receding sound of footsteps indicated their departure. The last Ellen heard from them was the same excited giggling that first announced their presence.

No one could prove that Ellen was going to the third music room. For all anyone knew, she was exploring the grounds. Ellen Adan did not chase after silly girlish fancies. She was enticed by the mystery of this Host Club, not the excitement it inspired in the girls. She did not _really_ want to follow girls numbers one, two, and three. In fact, she could leave the idea alone in an instant and let the three girls out of her sight so she could not find the third music room.

Ellen Adan did not need anyone or anything.

_But,_

It was a good idea to know where everything in the academy was located. Who knows? Maybe one day she would have to find the room herself. Would it not be better to already know where it was? It could be imperative to her academic achievement.

She will follow the girls purely out of necessity. _Not _curiosity.

* * *

Ok ok ok I know that there isn't any interaction with the club members in this chapter, but guess what? Chapter three is already written and up! YAY! Took me a while but I didn't want to leave you hanging.

I guessed at how Japanese classes are separated. It took remembering every anime i've ever seen. (I have little patience for research) If anyone has a big problem with it, tell me how to fix it and I definitely will.

Oh and I like the ending _chan _on Hunny-chan. None of the other names will have it (or _kun _or _san_ or _sama_) if I can help it.

Go ahead and review if you want. I'd appreciate it. But I insist you read chapter three.

Please?


	3. Chapter 3

"This school is insane," were Ellen's first words when the doors to the third music room opened before her.

How could she describe what she saw? Exactly what was this place?

First off, the scent of roses assaulted her nose the instant the doors moved. Second, if there were no musical instruments to be seen, how could this be the music room? Were there not so many excited girls filling the area (much like numbers one, two, and three), Ellen would have been sure she was led to the wrong room.

Third, who would put a small castle in what was supposed to be a music room?

There was a castle in the room. A castle. A real castle.

No matter how Ellen looked at it, that was a castle. In the middle of the room. It was made of wood and one of the towers was somewhat crooked, but the wood was painted to very closely imitate brick and the three towers were three feet away from touching the impossibly high ceiling. Without the towers, the structure was ten feet tall easily. Yes, this was a gray castle with a working drawbridge as a door, and an area spanning the size of her apartment living room. A group of girls were lined up just outside of the door/bridge's reach.

In fact, there were girls in nearly every empty space in the large music room. Other than one girl in a princess costume, it was a sea of yellow uniforms under a pink ceiling. Girls on the couches. Girls sipping tea. Girls chatting near a statue. Girls surrounding a table of cakes. Girls laughing, eating, talking. It was dizzying.

Against her better judgment, Ellen stepped further into the music room masquerading as a vast, fairy-tale themed tea party.

She managed to catch two more costumed individuals matching the fairy-tale theme. She could barely see the dark hair of the taller one due to female obstruction, but, on a chair too big for him, there sat a small, blonde, grade school boy shoveling cake into his mouth. He was trying his best to swallow and speak at the same time as he relayed a story to eager girls sitting just across a table on a decorative love seat. He was dressed in red overalls and a pig snout. If she listened hard enough, Ellen could make out what he was saying.

"So then Takashi said, 'Bun-Bun would not appreciate you baking him into a cake, Mitsukuni'." The boy paused only to stuff a fork full of white cake into his mouth, but did not stop to chew. "Didn't you, Takashi?"

Ellen followed his smiling gaze to the large character to his right. This person had a long, fake nose on his face as part of his costume. For clothes, the dark haired boy known as Mori wore a bright blue suit compete with a red bow tie. Attached to the suit at different areas were long pieces of dark colored gimp connected to crosses made of wood. He was a puppet, and if the nose counted for anything, he was Pinocchio.

"Yes," he said.

The younger boy, Mitskuni, threw the rest of the cake in his mouth and finished his story.

"That's right," he said between chews, "So then I said, you know what I said? I said 'Mori you're right! We should eat cake together as an apology!' And we ate two cakes that day! Bun-Bun forgave me for almost baking him, too."

The girls surrounding the two commenced to applaud and cheer at the boy's ridiculous story. Not only that, but some teared up and held handkerchiefs daintily to their eyes. Others ran to grab more cake to offer to the boy.

"Oh Hunny-chan, that story was so sweet! I'm so happy you and Bun-Bun made up!"

"Yes Hunny-chan! My heart goes out to you and Bun-Bun!"

"Have some more cake, Hunny-chan, I brought plenty!"

"Mori, your brilliant thinking saved their relationship!"

The smaller boy sat with a huge smile on his face as he reveled in the attention the girls were giving him. He attacked each cake placed in front of him and moved onto another story. The taller one sat with the same stoic expression he held through the conversation.

Ellen did not realize she whispered, "What the hell is going on?"

She also did not realize she had been backing up into a table.

Just before she collided with it, a calm voice from behind called out to her.

"You'll cover your uniform in tea if you keep coming this way, Miss."

Ellen somehow knew the warning had been directed at her. She whirled around, nearly smacking the table with her elbow, and was met with whiskers. And glasses.

The boy at the table- also surrounded by girls- seemed convinced she would not knock over the table supporting all four student's tea cups. Ellen was dismissed with a smile. He resumed his conversation with the three girls and paid her no mind.

She had a chance to really see the costume he wore while he talked.

Attached to the whiskers, was a snout with a black dog like nose gracing the tip, plastic of course. She figured the oval glasses were not part of the costume, but the black, furry ears most likely were. The small, wolf like ears blended in almost too well with his dark hair. He was obviously the wolf from the Three Little Pigs (Little red riding hood had not appeared yet, so she placed him in their story). The suit threw her off, though. It was a plain black suit with a plain white shirt and a plain black tie. How did that relate to a wolf?

Ellen could hear part of his conversation as she walked away from his area.

"Villains are as essential to the story as the protagonist. The pigs would not have learned the benefits of hard work if the wolf had not discovered them." The boy spoke quickly but clearly, with a pleasing tone. His three conversation partners sat with their tea, suspended in dreamy, polite smiles.

He sipped his tea and continued. "That said, the wolf can hardly be considered a villain. It is merely the carnivorous nature of the wolf that immediately inspires the assumption that wolves are bad, but that _is _a wolf. The wolf is behaving as wolves do and hunting. Wolves have to eat, do they not? They eat animals. Why is a pig suddenly the wrong food choice? It's not a very nice occurrence, but it is nature. How often does one hear of pigs boiling a wolf and eating it? It seems to me that the big bad wolf was harshly punished for acting on the instinct he was created with and the pigs were applauded for murder."

As soon as the boy was done speaking, the four girls jumped at the opportunity to praise him. Ellen tried to walk away faster so she was not subject to more absurdity, but was too late. She was not far enough away to be spared.

"Kyouya, your logic is astounding!"

"I never thought of it that way, sempai!"

"I'm not sure I understand everything you said, but I certainly feel more sympathetic towards wolves!"

When the Kyouya person began a rant on how the pigs' brotherly relationship gains undeserved sympathy, Ellen almost jogged to the other side of the room. She pushed her way through several walls of girls to get there. She would have hopped if she had to. _Anything_ to escape to where the conversations made sense. It was their cries of protest that attracted the attention of two pigs she had not seen yet.

The two characters appeared in front of her without warning. How did they navigate the sea of girl so easily? This was a disturbing thought that Ellen had to put behind her, lest she become confused and then angry.

"Oi! Hikaru, have we seen her here before?"

The boy on the left studied her but spoke to his companion. The missing two little pigs wore almost the same outfit as their story book brother she did not meet earlier. These pigs wore short sleeved plaid shirts underneath the blue overalls covered with random, unnecessary patches.

They were identical in height, hair color, eye color, and, if they were not wearing fake pig snouts, Ellen would have seen matching noses. Even the scrutinizing expressions they wore as they examined her were parallel. They were exact duplicates. If these were the twins girl number three was so fond of, then Ellen had located the Host Club at last.

Ellen halted the twin on the right's response.

"You're Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachin?"

The boys' demeanor took a quick and dramatic turn after she said this.

They immediately advanced on her and took each of her hands gently. Stunned, Ellen dazedly allowed them to close in on her personal space. (She made a mental note of which twin was on what side of her- Kaoru was now at her right and Hikaru on the left) She was softly nudged forward by her shoulders. Dropping her hand for a moment, the one called Hikaru pulled down his pig snout. His grin was both tender and playfully cunning.

"You've heard of us, then? The devilish type caught your attention?"

Ellen did not have a chance to question his meaning; the other twin had hooked her chin and turned her face towards him. He had also pulled his snout down to speak.

"Your timing is perfect," Kaoru began, "We happen to be between customers and have just decided that you are next."

Ellen turned away from the twin and saw that she had been led to one of the tables. Hikaru left her side and pulled out one of the plushy chairs while Kaoru poured a small cup of what could only be tea. In eerily perfect unison, the twins gestured a hand towards the seat.

With one voice and one deviously sweet expression they called to her. "Please, sit."

Ellen sat and accepted the tea.

Both boys made themselves comfortable on a couch to her right that she had seen half a dozen times in different places of the music room. One crossed the right leg over the other, and the other crossed the left leg. Which one was which again? Ellen was beginning to feel as if they were switching positions purposefully. Hikaru was on the left? No, it was the other one. Whoever he was, the one on the left broke the silence.

"What is your name?" he asked before fingering a cookie from a silver tray on the table. He was just as graceful eating it as he was at pouring tea.

This kind of behavior stirred something foreign in Ellen. She caught herself sitting up straighter and lying her hands demurely on her lap like so many of the other girls in the room. She was even self conscious of how fast she was drinking her tea. Something about these two made her want to desperately remember her etiquette classes.

That was dumb. Why should she want to impress anybody with a display of good manners? She had to snap out of this before she began to resent the twins.

Ellen cooly replied, " Leila."

Maybe it was Kaoru who said, "What a pretty name. How fitting. Are you from America?"

"Yes, I'm from Texas," Ellen replied.

With the same frightening harmony, the boys declared, "Everything is bigger in Texas!" laughing with practiced grace.

Ellen stared them down until they stopped.

It was an awkward slow-to-a-halt stop, both boys shooting uncertain glances at his brother. The last of the chuckles dripped like water from a broken faucet and stopped.

They must have thought she could not hear their whispers. Even after they turned away from her and huddled together, Ellen could hear virtually everything they said. She was not perturbed in any way, in fact, she felt as if she was seeing the real twins and not a charming illusion.

"This one is a bit cold," the one on the left whispered, "We appear to have come across an ice queen, Hikaru." Hikaru was on the right, then. She better not lose track of him.

"Not even. She's more like a snowman. And not a very cheery one." Hikaru's hiss was decidedly louder.

It was irritating being treated like she was not just across the table. Ellen planted her cup down none too gently and scooted forward in her chair.

"Can I ask a question?"

The twins turned towards her suddenly and righted themselves into the proper sitting positions previously held. Kaoru was the one who answered her. He resumed the gentlemanly guise.

"Of course."

It was no bother to Ellen if they continued to try to trick her as long as she could get the information she wanted. She waved a hand at her surroundings and towards the castle.

"What is all this?" she asked, "What's with the costumes?"

Hikaru answered for his brother in a tone less than amiable. His mood had begun to shift again.

"My lord wanted to incorporate a fairytale theme into the club today."

Ellen leaned forward, engrossed. "Your lord?"

Kaoru spoke up.

"Tamaki Suoh. He's the club president and founder." He lifted a finger to the castle and continued. "He's in there. He said it offered a bit of privacy. The girls seem to like it."

Ellen wondered what kind of activities called for that kind of privacy, but was not sure she really wanted to know. Why would girls be pleased with it? What on earth was going on in there? No, she did not want to think about it anymore. She diverted her mind from that subject.

"What is he dressed as?"

The question was meaningless to her but maybe the disturbing thoughts about the castle would leave her if she focused on something insignificant.

Upset by something unknown, Hikaru Hitachin turned away from the conversation. His head was propped up by his hand which was balanced on the arm rest. Ellen could care less if he was bored. She could talk to the other brother.

Kaoru kept the pleasant expression as he answered her. "He has assumed the character Prince Charming. He even has a cape. You might see him if you stay longer, his costume is quite hilarious."

Hikaru cut in. "Get a look at him before he loses his cape," he mumbled more to himself than anybody. The boys eyes brightened with mischief. His disinterested gaze faltered as a smile began to form. The cape was obviously in some kind of danger. Was he bitter about the difference between his and the president's costumes?

"So, the president is dressed like a prince and you are in a farmer's overalls? Was that intentional?"

Ellen had not meant for the question to offend the twin; she needed him to talk to her since the other twin had chosen to sulk. Therefore, she was surprised when the boy's eyes widened in hurt. And were his eyes watering? Never had she been so bewildered.

Kaoru's voice had lowered to a soft sigh. "A common farmer and a prince? Is that how I look compared to my lord?" His hand timidly went up to his mouth. "If my looks cannot contrast these peasant clothes then I must not be handsome..."

It takes a lot to make Ellen Adan flinch. In the summer after her freshman year of high school, Ellen once remained completely ignorant- ignorant until she was begged to call the police- of a mugging that was taking place three feet away from her in an almost empty ice cream shop. She was more confused than scared of the loud shot that nearly fatally wounded the victim. And she did not flinch.

But Ellen flinched when Hikaru jumped from his seat, completely forgetting he was supposed to be sulking, and took his brother's hands into his own. He kneeled in front of him and looked up into Kaoru's downcast face.

"Don't talk like this, brother. You know that isn't true."

Hikaru's tone was low and full of concern. Kaoru met his brother's gaze and allowed his face to be held between his hands. If Ellen was not so frozen in shock, she would have escaped the scene right then. Her paralysis was so complete, she could not even be flustered at their close proximity. She sat in mute horror, unable to look away.

Kaoru was still very close to tears. His whisper was audible only to the two people closest to him.

"Hikaru, am I ugly?"

Ellen flinched for the second time that day when Hikaru jumped up and embraced his brother.

"Kaoru, you are not ugly. Your darling looks leave even me envious, and I look just like you."

The boys separated just enough for Hikaru to lift Kaoru's chin while Hikaru's other arm remained wrapped around his body. They could have very easily been mistaken as lovers. Kaoru might have realized this. Ellen caught a blush creep onto his cheeks.

Hikaru leaned into their embrace, ignoring the one-woman audience mere feet away.

"Kaoru, you know how precious you are to me."

Kaoru did not turn away. He might have inched closer to his brother.

"Hikaru, you shouldn't say things like that. What will our customer think?"

Ellen's hands flew up as soon as she found the strength necessary to move them. She waved them in front of her frantically, accentuating every word she spoke with movement.

"Ok, stop. I _really_ don't want to see two guys kiss."

It miraculously worked. The twins were startled into immediately stopping the advance on each other by her outburst. Identically shocked expressions were directed towards Ellen, who still held her hands up as if the twins would continue if she let them fall.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not very accustomed to viewing incest, or homosexuality. I know both of you must be harassed often for this and I sympathize with you, really. I am by no means judging your lifestyle choices, but I need to be able to gradually accept it. "

"Harassed?" Kaoru said to himself, still fixed in an expression of utter confusion.

Hikaru muttered, "Incest...?"

Ellen stood and thanked them for the tea. She straightened out her skirts and tried her best to overcome the scene she just witnessed. It would take time. So very much time.

"If you could please get me the president," she began, "I would be very appreciative. I have some questions for him about the Host Club."

"I can answer your questions, miss."

Ellen turned to face the voice that came from behind her. The glasses-wearing boy in the wolf costume she had seen before greeted her kindly. He glanced between her and the twins and then back to her. Ellen thought she heard him mumble something about preference, but he spoke far too low for her to be sure.

"I am vice-president, Kyouya Ootori. I am more than capable of answering any questions you have."

He gestured away from the still frozen twins.

"If you'll come with me."

* * *

Finally, some interaction with the club members, huh? I couldn't wait to get to this part. This chapter is A LOT shorter than I wanted it to be but eh, I can post it faster this way. I won't keep doing this though. I despise ending chapters before I think they're ready.

Oh and if I get anything wrong, like names, or events, or attitudes, cut me a little slack. I saw the anime like two years ago, and all of my manga is in storage. I research everything as best I can (or have patience for). I swear I tried my best to get their characters down.

PS. I based Kyouya's speech on a three little pigs tale that has all pigs living and then boiling the wolf and eating him. I forget where I heard it but it exists. Just in case anyone is confused.

Thanks for reading :) review if you must!


	4. Chapter 4

This chapter is dedicated to .xTamachannnnx. Her review had me bouncing around the house for ten minutes.

Thank you!

* * *

Kyouya Ootori.

Nerd.

Hot nerd.

Girls back home would love him.

"I didn't catch your name miss?" Kyouya spoke to his notebook but addressed Ellen.

"Leila."

"Miss Leila," he made eye contact for this, "what would you like to know?"

The two had been walking towards a destination only Kyouya knew. Every once in a while, Kyouya would pause to straighten out a chair, or reconfigure table settings.

"What is the host club?"

Kyouya had lifted a cake off of a table and was carrying it with him now. Perhaps he was disposing of it.

"Interesting," he began, smiling, "You come to our club not knowing what it is we do. What if I told you we were an ordinary journalism club?"

Ellen glanced around at their surroundings.

"I'd say that's obviously not the case here. Now if you would tell me what you _are _instead of what you are _not, _Mr. Ootori, this would- gah!"

Ellen caught herself using Kyouya's arm before she fell backwards from having to stop so fast. She nearly trampled the small grade school pig from before. How long the boy had been there, Ellen did not know. She only knew that she did not see him before.

Ellen released Kyouya's arm and dusted her skirts saving as much face as she could. She berated the boy, using her most authoritative voice.

"You should not surprise people like that, little guy. I almost hurt you. Run along, kid." She waved her hand at him in a dismissive motion.

The boy- his name was Mitsukuni, if Ellen remembered right- did not budge. He stood looking up at Ellen with large brown eyes, swinging from side to side. The white, toy rabbit he held swung with him. A bashful smile was partly hidden by the fake snout he wore.

Ellen waited for him to respond. When he did not, Ellen pointed to the door leading out of the room.

"Go on kid. Go play with someone your age."

Mitsukuni-pig smiled even brighter and swayed even wider. Ellen guessed that the kid was trying to be cute. Too bad for him; Ellen was more uncomfortable than charmed.

"Hunny," Kyouya finally spoke up (to Ellen's relief), "Did you need something?"

The boy vigorously shook his head, no.

"Did you want to meet the new customer?"

If the snout was not fixed to his face so securely, it would have fallen off with how energetically the little pig nodded. The would-be adorable expression remained cemented under his sandy blonde hair.

"Ok. Leila," Kyouya gestured toward the smaller boy, "this is third year high school student, and host club member, Mitsukuni Haninozuka. Honey, this is Leila… I'm sorry, I never learned your last name."

Ellen removed her astonished gaze from Mitsukuni for a second to address Kyouya.

"Adan. Haninozuka, are you really a third year?"

In the second it took to look away and return, Mitsukuni had transformed into a giant puppet, and Ellen was asking the question to his belly button. The tall boy that Ellen saw alongside Mitsukuni when she first entered had taken his place.

Kyouya interrupted Ellen's surprised outburst. "Mori? Where did Hunny go?" He searched the immediate surroundings and found no trace of the boy.

Instead of answering, the boy Kyouya called Mori deeply bowed and took Ellen's hand in her own. She instinctively looked to Kyouya as if he would rescue her or at least explain the action. Sure, the boy was handsome and tall (Ellen had to admit, she liked the tall ones), but the situation was still uncomfortable. She had just asked his belly button a question, for goodness sake.

The wolf boy did not rescue her or explain anything. He made yet another note in his book and smiled at their display.

Mori lifted his head and said in a deep voice, "Takashi Morinozuka, Miss Leila."

And that was all he said.

Ellen gave him the chance to say more or even come out of the bow, but it did not happen.

Damn.

Tall, dark, and handsome turned out to be a complete weirdo.

Ellen once again found herself turning to Kyouya; he was the least strange (thought his note-taking habit was becoming annoying). He did not notice her as he was busy searching for something. Ellen noticed the cake had mysteriously disappeared.

"Hunny!" he shouted to the back of the room, "That wasn't for you!" He stalked off in the direction the little pig must have went.

Just as Kyouya left, Ellen felt her hand being released. Takashi Morinozuka stood, finally, and followed the wolf.

"He took the cake," Ellen whispered, "I was used."

They were too far to be scolded now. The sea of girl had long since engulfed the three and they were out of sight.

Kyouya never told her what the host club was. Oh, who cares anymore? Ellen's patience was worn to its thinnest and threatened to snap. The quicker she was out of this madhouse, the better.

Good thing she knew where the exit was.

xxxx

Elsewhere, a brunette youngster was frantically restocking refreshments on all of the tables.

_The sooner the tables are done, the sooner I can go back to the guests._

Last table.

"Oi, Haruhi!"

The call made the only member of the host club not wearing a costume cringe.

_The twins…_

"Haruhi! We want more coffee!" The second voice had to shout. Haruhi was not facing him, so he was not sure his demand was heard.

"Okay, Hikaru! I'm coming!" the brunette replied, finally turning towards the source of annoyance.

Somehow, Haruhi managed to balance the large, decorative tray loaded to the brim with cakes, teas, and coffee while navigating around the various obstacles of girls and furniture. There was only one hindrance Haruhi could not get by alone. The way the chair and table was situated did not leave enough room to squeeze through.

Haruhi looked over the tray for a sign of anyone who could help. Luckily enough, a foreign girl with dark brown hair was on her way over.

"Hey!" Haruhi called, "Could you give me a hand with this chair, please?"

The girl swiftly marched passed and barked.

"No! Dammit!"

Xxxxx

Oh, crap.

Lost in angry thoughts, Ellen accidentally unleashed some of the hostility on a short boy who, unfortunately, was in her way at the wrong time.

Now, people were looking and whispering.

And they avoided me before…

The boy's surprised expression motivated Ellen to apologize quickly.

"I'm sorry, I… thought you asked… if I could… brush your hair -Anyways, yeah I'll help. This chair, right?"

As she moved the chair, Ellen mentally slapped herself. How could she let herself get so upset? Look where it gets you! What must the poor boy think of her? Better apologize again.

"Look, sorry again, kid. I was distracted. It's been a weird day."

The boy looked at Ellen from behind the tea set on the tray and flashed her a small, kind smile.

"It's okay. No harm done."

He was cute. But short. How old is he anyway?

"Oi, Haruhi!" two unmistakable parallel voices yelled, "Where's the coffee?"

His name was Haruhi, then.

Any kindness left on the short boy's face quickly disappeared.

"I'm coming!" he shouted angrily. To Ellen he wore an apologetic, sheepish smile. If he could have bowed, he surely would have. He settled for a humble nod.

"Sorry, but I have to go. Thanks for the help.

Haruhi turned to leave. So did Ellen.

What happened next was purely accidental.

The pair of brunettes were in such a rush to get away that neither of them noticed the brown slick of tea Haruhi had accidentally spilled while the two were talking. Ellen's small heel slid on the wet spot at the same time Haruhi took a slippery step forward. Both of them landed on the floor at roughly the same time, Ellen landing on her back facing up, and Haruhi landing on her stomach facing down. The tray of sweets flew into the air.

Hot coffee, tea, and cakes were suspended in the air before the mass splattered all over the students' uniforms and hair. Ellen barely managed to get her arms up to protect her face. Their own cries of shock and pain buried the cries of shock from the girls.

In record time, they were up and violently twisting and slapping their bodies to remove the possibly scalding liquid. Fortunately, the long sleeved uniforms the wore -his the boys uniform and hers the girls- was made of a material thick enough and resistant enough to minimize the heat. When Ellen and Haruhi realized this, they ceased dancing around and doubled over in relief. Ellen found her voice first.

"Wow, that could've been bad… You okay Haruhi?"

The boy laughed incredulously through heavy breaths.

"Yes, but I'm soaked." He stood and straightened and examined his clothing. "Kyouya's not going to like this," he mumbled.

Since the jacket caught the greater amount of liquid, Haruhi removed it -a luxury Ellen did not possess. On his white shirt underneath, only the part near the shoulders was stained brown.

Ellen's hair and uniform somehow took more damage than Haruhi's. The majority of the sweets landed in her hair, but the skirts of the dress were covered in a brown mess of coffee and tea with little pieces of cookies here and there. It was more brown than yellow at this point. It was definitely ruined.

Ellen watched Haruhi reassure the crowd that everything was fine as she picked out what she could from her hair. They reluctantly parted.

When finished with damage control, Haruhi stepped closer to Ellen.

"Did it burn you?" he asked, genuinely concerned,

Ellen shook her head. She was about to ask for a towel, but was intrigued by a light purple strip that ran vertically underneath Haruhi's shirt. She only saw it due to the fact that the shirt was now partially stained, but see-thru.

Without thinking, she stated "Hey, your bra is showing."

Haruhi inspected his shoulder, displeased.

"I hope that doesn't stain, too."

Ellen could relate to that. She hated shopping for bras. Not only was it embarrassing, but her chest size seemed to change every other day, sometimes bigger, sometimes-

"You're a girl!" an amazed Ellen blurted.

"Yeah! Yeah, I can see it now. Why are you dressed like a boy? It's the uniform, right? I don't like it either. Maybe I can also get a boys uniform. Hey are you okay?"

Ellen's ramblings had left her oblivious to the growing look of distress on Haruhi's face. He -well, _she_- darted _her _gaze around the room, making sure no one was listening. She held her hands up and was about to speak when she was suddenly charged at by a large purple curtain.

The curtain shouted in a male voice, "Escape procedure number eight!"

Haruhi cried out loudly as she was tackled by the mass of cloth. Her shout startled Ellen more than the fact that the small girl just disappeared behind a hostile inanimate object.

Haruhi's last words were, "Tamaki! Let me go!" After that, all that was heard were muffled shouts.

The attack occurred so suddenly, the stunned Ellen did not even process that Haruhi might have been in danger. If given more time to react, Ellen might have helped.

She was not afforded this time.

Almost as quick as the curtain's arrival, the boy nicknamed Hunny showed up with four sparklers in each hand. He twirled and jumped in an impromptu dance while the puppet, Mori, stood behind and waved his lone sparkler unenthusiastically. The girls floated towards the scene, ooh-ing and aah-ing when appropriate.

Ellen was distracted for a moment but remembered Haruhi's predicament almost instantly. Only, Haruhi was not there. Neither was the curtain. In their place, a blonde male in a convincing prince costume sat cross-legged on a plush chair as if he had been there from the start. His costume consisted of a dark green chest piece over a loose white shirt. He wore thick gloves in the same green and dark boots came close to his knees over tan trousers. And wouldn't you know it? He was wearing a cape in the brightest red she had ever seen.

Ellen noticed that both Takashi and Mitsukuni were mysteriously gone and every girl who was paying attention was just as confused as she was.

Amongst the chatter, Ellen heard:

"Where did Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai go?"

"Look, It's Tamaki. He's so dreamy!"

"That was weird. Oh well."

Eventually they scattered, bored probably. Ellen was left with the boy.

He flipped his yellow locks away from his face and placed a hand on his chest. Ellen vaguely noticed how perfectly kept his nails and cuticles were.

"I am Tamaki Suoh," he said in a regal tone, "And who might you be, princess?"

Tamaki Suoh. President of the host club. He really is in a prince costume.

It was all too much to process.

Ellen was covered in food, her butt hurt from the fall, she had just bore witness to a kidnapping, she had very nearly been sexually harassed, and, on top of it all, no one told her what the host club was. She was exhausted and close to a meltdown.

"I'm leaving," she stated. She bowed and turned to walk away.

Tamaki jumped off of the chair and cut her off quickly.

"So soon? We just met," he lowered himself to her eye level so she could see his prince charming smile better, "Why don't you sit down? I think we can get most of the coffee off of you."

Ellen backed away smoothly before he could take her arm.

"No, I don't want to sit down. I don't want cookies, cakes, teas, incest, costumes, notebooks, little boys, or _any_ boys for that matter. I want to go home and forget I came here. Good day."

Ellen tried to leave again, but Tamaki blocked her path once more.

"I won't have it. A fair maiden such as yourself cannot be seen in such a state." He grasped her upper arm before she could dodge him. He hooked her arm with his and cheerfully dragged Ellen the opposite way, towards the castle.

Not the castle.

Ellen planted her feet and forced him to stop. If she was going to be forced to interact with this person, it was going to be out in the open, in front of a large group of witnesses.

"I insist we go over there." She pointed at an unused section of the room near the back. It was not very crowded and not completely secluded. The best this cursed room had to offer.

Tamaki glanced at the area and practically jumped with excitement.

"Perfect! That would be much more suitable, princess. We must not leave our loyal subjects wanting for our presence!"

Whatever, just let me leave soon.

They made it there fairly quickly. No ridiculous interruptions for once.

Tamaki offered her a towel to dry herself off with, but she set it on the chair instead. Then he offered to clean out her hair. She slapped his hand away. Lastly he offered her tea. Seriously? She was covered in the stuff. Ellen scowled at him until he removed it from her sight.

He did not let up the act for a second.

It was (annoyingly) impressive, considering how Ellen must have looked. There were stains of brown all over the yellow uniform, her hair was clumpy and tangled, and her entire body resonated with an underlying rage so great, even the idiot girls could see it. And yet, this Tamaki was not fazed in the least. He smiled a princely smile and continued to address her kindly.

"Does the maiden have a name?" he asked, sickeningly sweet.

"You can call me Leila, your _highness_." the last word dragged out, heavy with sarcasm. It was not like Ellen to try to be so blatantly rude, but this had been such a trying half hour, and this kid was _very _annoying.

Of course, the blonde reacted nowhere near what she expected. He glowed, literally glowed with joy. He was even close to tears.

With eyes cast dreamily at the ceiling, he repeated, "Your highness…" His hands moved to cup his face while he reeled over the words.

Maybe Ellen could escape while he was in this strange trance. As slow as possible, Ellen inched off of her seat, a wary eye on the boy day dreamer. She had just fully left the chair, about to run like never before, when Tamaki abruptly broke free from his stupor, startling her back into the seat.

He flew from his seated position and landed perfectly in front of her on one knee. He took her right hand in his left and magically produced a rose in the other hand.

"Princess Leila, I would go to the ends of the earth to ensure your happiness. Your beauty has rendered my body still and my heart helpless. Won't you grace me with a smile so that I may be restored?" As he was talking, he slowly inched closer. As he inched closer, his volume dropped lower. Soon he was whispering in a captivating tone. "Anything for your smile. Ask for it and it will be yours. What is it you desire, my princess?"

If either of them moved any closer their faces would meet. This was purely the fault of Tamaki; Ellen would have had to phase through the chair to back away any further.

That's an interesting image.

"Princess? Do not be afraid to tell me your darkest desires."

Stop moving closer to me.

Ellen thought of the best way to fight him off should he try to kiss her. Then she remembered Haruhi's struggle. Ellen felt a little more than guilty for not having done more. She hoped she was not in any real danger.

"Fine. What did you do with the girl?" Ellen challenged too loudly.

Tamaki blinked in confusion. The act was over.

"Girl? What girl?"

Ellen scooted forward in her seat, causing Tamaki to double backwards. He was still on one knee in front of her chair.

"The one in the boy's uniform, Haruhi. I know that was you in the purple curtain. I heard you yell. What did you do with her?"

For once, Tamaki was quiet for longer than twenty seconds. His eyes widened in what could only be fear. He was caught.

"Oh, Haruhi…" He let his gaze fall to the floor and did his best to pose nonchalantly. He flipped his hair out again and laughed softly. "I was confused. You see princess, that was no girl. That was Haruhi Fujioka, first year _male _student and the newest member of our club. He is currently in the changing rooms. There is no need to worry."

He attempted the easy laugh again and failed miserably. The stiff pose he held was an even bigger failure. And if Ellen was not 100% sure he was lying, the glances he shot her to see if she bought his story removed all doubt.

Ellen looked away from his ridiculous display. "That was a girl, Suoh. I saw her bra." Her accusing gaze returned to Tamaki, fiercely. "Are you a liar, Suoh?"

Tamaki Suoh stammered and fidgeted nervously.

"N-no… Haruhi's not a girl because…" he looked in every direction but Ellen's, "Not a girl because… I'm wearing a bra, too!"

He did not mean to yell so loudly -or maybe he did, who knows?- but Tamaki's outburst caught the attention of virtually every single girl in the room. Excited murmurs erupted in response. Everywhere she looked, Ellen caught some girl trying not to be seen paying attention to the president.

Tamaki realized his mistake immediately and struggled to rectify.

"For therapeutic reasons! It helps my posture!" he cried frantically towards all of the flustered girls. It was not working. Tamaki knew this.

He dramatically threw himself into his seat, defeated. His cheery demeanor was replaced by a gloomy pout. He absentmindedly drew shapes on the armrest while muttering to himself. Ellen was forgotten for the moment.

She broke the silence.

"You're not wearing a bra."

Tamaki started at the sound of her voice. He really must have forgotten she was there.

"You don't know that…" was his childish response.

"Right," Ellen shot back, rolling her eyes, "And Haruhi _isn't_ a girl."

"She's not a girl!" Tamaki indignantly exclaimed.

"Yes she is!" Ellen barked, just as loud. She was pulled into the shouting match before she could do anything about it.

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"Is not!"

"Is too!"

"You have cake in your hair!" Tamaki bellowed, now standing and looming over the still seated Ellen. He pointed a finger accusingly at her long, dirty tresses.

Ellen jumped up and pushed Tamaki's finger away from her face. She rose to her full height- which was still a full five inches shorter than his- and pointed her own finger into his face. Her insults were never voiced; she noticed two familiar shapes approaching them from behind Tamaki.

Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachin grabbed the angry blonde's shoulders and began pulling him away from Ellen.

"Let's go, Tono. Kyouya doesn't want you fighting with the customers," left twin started.

"Yeah, and Haruhi has been asking for your help," right pig finished.

After hearing this, Tamaki immediately forgot the exchange and his anger. He spun away, theatrically and bounded off into the yellow dresses, yelling, "Daddy's coming Haruhi! Don't worry!"

The twin pigs stood side by side along with Ellen, watching him go.

Right twin leaned slightly towards his brother.

"Should we tell him Haruhi left for the day?"

Left twin put his hands in his oversized pockets and shrugged.

"Let's see what he does first."

Each twin turned to Ellen, expectantly. Their twin bored expressions were clearly waiting for something.

Ellen lifted her hands in surrender.

"Okay, fine. Haruhi is a boy," she said loud enough for any girls in the immediate surroundings to hear.

Both twins smiled and nodded. Then they left without another word.

Dirty and frustrated, Ellen was finally free to leave this place.

So, I'm never coming here again.

Luckily, no one else tried to stop her on the way out. Well, that was a bit of a stretch, Kyouya Ootori did try to call to her, but she broke into a sprint and was soon out of the third music room.

Xxxxx

One side of the card read: _**To Miss Adan**_

The other side read: **_The club apologizes for the events that occurred today. Please accept this gift basket and join us tomorrow at five for a small banquet we are hosting in the clubroom. We would also like to replace your uniform. Sincerely, the Ouran High School Host Club._**

Ellen looked past the little white card in her hand at the large gift basket that had been waiting for her on the welcome mat in front of her door. One quick look at the basket was enough to see that it was mostly sweets. Gross. The flowers on the basket were pretty, though. It was not a complete waste. Ellen loved daisies.

She tucked the card in with the contents of the woven basket and dragged it inside with her purchases from her quick shopping trip (many people stared at the dirty girl in the fancy dress). She placed it all at the foot of her low, Japanese style table to deal with later. She needed a bath first.

Xxxxx****

"Ellie, don't even think about getting ice cream. You know they told you not to eat after six."

How did she know?

Scarlett Adan scolded her daughter from her perch on the living room couch at precisely the instant Ellen opened the refrigerator. Ellen thought it was safe to sneak some of the orange sherbet back to her room since American Idol was on. Apparently, her mother could still surprise her after sixteen years.

"Mom, it's barely seven. Seriously? Just a scoop." Ellen continued to rummage through the freezer for her ice cream.

"Fine, just one scoop," Scarlett conceded, distractedly. It was good to know she still knew her mother enough to expect her to give in after some prodding.

Ellen plopped onto the couch with her generous helping of ice cream. It was a commercial, but her mother still stared at the screen intently. The harsh light of the television paired with the low light of the room gave her an ethereal glow as the colors played on her sharp features.

"Mom, why are you watching T.V. in the dark?" Ellen ventured, taking her first bite of the sherbet.

"I don't want to wake up your father. He's napping."

Yeah right. Your room is literally the farthest from the living room.

Ellen brushed off the obvious lie. Maybe her mother was not really listening to her. The show had not come back on yet.

"Um, mom," Ellen stared at her spoon and paused, "When are we leaving tomorrow?"

Scarlett readjusted her position on the couch. She was in her pajama shorts, so she had no problem lifting her legs up and putting them between her and her daughter (she could not do it in a dress).

"Eight," she answered.

Ellen was not satisfied.

"And when are they going to start?"

"Nine."

Ellen had to back off for a while. Her mother's answers were short, a sign of irritability. Oh great, and now the show was back on. Why does mom even bother with this show? Does she really like this type of show? They were so different. They were always different. Maybe that was why they never really talked.

But Ellen wanted to talk now.

"What does going under feel like?"

Now, Scarlett was very visibly upset. Her brow furrowed and she began to fidget with her hair. That habit was with her for as long as Ellen could remember. She should stop, though. Some short blonde strands were coming away in her hands.

"It's nothing scary," she replied, "It's like falling asleep."

She was referring to a surgery she needed to have done for a shoulder she hurt playing tennis in high school.

"What if I don't wake up?"

"Ellen, please! Can't you let me watch this?"

Her mother was yelling at Ellen but not facing her or the television. If Ellen had to guess, she was yelling at the coffee table. Her hands were on either sides of her head.

Ellen prepared to leave the room.

"Sorry, mom."

Xxxxx****

It's too quiet. Mom must not be home yet.

Ellen drowsily lifted her hand to her hair and was shocked to find out she was still in the tub. The now very dirty bathwater sloshed with the sudden movement.

Oh crap. I fell asleep.

She carefully lifted herself out of the water so none of the pieces of food touched her. But she could not get out. She never actually bathed, just filled the tub and got in. A quick shower would have to do. Homework was waiting to be done.

It was eight when Ellen stepped out of the bathroom, eight thirty when she finished a light dinner, and eight forty five when she finally sat down to do her homework. History was easy enough right?

Twenty minutes into the work, Ellen shoved the papers off of the table.

"Screw this, I'm going to read."

She rummaged through one of the many packed boxes stacked nest to the wall that closed off the kitchen. She found the first volume of Ultra Maniac among this part of her manga collection. The two main characters smiled invitingly at her from the cover. This lightened Ellen's mood. She sat down on the cushion and read for an hour, completely devoting her attention to the wacky situations the two characters always found themselves in.

The digital clock above her television declared the time, eleven forty seven. This meant she read for more than an hour. Damn. It was time to go to bed forty seven minutes ago.

Ellen reluctantly re-boxed the first three volumes of the shoujo she had been reading for more than two hours. She was confident she would not need a sleeping pill, so the trip to the bed was uninterrupted.

Ellen jumped into the queen-sized, sleigh bed she insisted make the trip to Japan with her and situated all of her eight pillows around her.

She laid in bed, listening to the sounds of Bunkyo night life.

I can't believe I'm really here.

Her sleep was deep and untroubled.

* * *

Wow it's been a while! Is this chapter long enough for me to be forgiven for not updating for a while? No? Ok… _

Blah! I rewrote this like 5 times, no joke. Not a change-a-paragraph-or-two rewrite either. I mean a full blown everything-must-go complete overhaul. I just could not be happy with it!

I learned an amazing lesson while writing this. It _is_ possible to over-describe things. That, and I realized I use WAY too many adjectives. Cut about 20 descriptive sentences out of this. Probably should have made it 30.

My inner monologue:

"They don't need to know how fast Hunny is dancing with the sparklers."

"But… but… It paints a mental picture…"

"Take it out!"

"Fine…"

Ok, so chapter five is actually going to build a plot, I know this has mostly been drabble but bear with me! I will not disappoint!

Review, review, review! I gave you a choice last three chapters but no more! I love reviews!

Please?

P.S. don't you just hate it when you accidentally hit that "insert' key and go back to fix something and all of the text after it just starts disappearing? I think I'm going to remove it from the keyboard… where are the pliers? -_-'

P.P.S. I think American Idol actually comes on at 8... o_o


	5. Chapter 5

I totally forgot this last chapter (if it's necessary):

I do not own Ultra Maniac in any way. Or American Idol, for that matter. (or Ouran High School Host Club, if anybody is still wondering)And, I can't do this thing without using honorifics, so they're back.

* * *

"Miss Adan, I'm afraid I'll be an hour late picking you up from school today. I've been involved in a small accident and I may be with the police for a while. Please, forgive me. If you don't want to wait, the school should have another driver to escort you home, or maybe you could have a friend give you a ride?"

"You're fired. "

Ellen snapped the phone cover closed, and the call was ended.

It turned out the school did not have another driver on hand at that time, they were all being leased or rented or however the school whored them out. The faculty were all apologetic and suggested they call a cab or that she take the subway, and other suggestions that were equally detestable. She called Tohru back.

"You're rehired. I'm giving you fifty minutes."

"Th-thank you Miss Adan! I'll be there as soon as I-"

Snap. The sound echoed the irritation she felt.

At least the day had been consistent in disappointment. The first half of class was just as mundane as the classes Ellen took in private school. The second half was not any better. Lunch was only marginally interesting. A group of girls escorted her to the banquet hall when they noticed she had forgotten to prepare a lunch. She learned they were die hard fans of the Host Club. The group had more friends, all fan girls as well, and all insisted Ellen join them in fawning over the boys. They answered the question the Hosts never did at least. A Host club is apparently like an escort service, or at least that was how Ellen interpreted it. It was strange the school allowed it.

Other than the girls' sick obsession with the boys of the Host Club, these people were hardly different from the children of her father's business associates and clients or the kids in her American schools. It was boring and frustrating.

Is this how her life in Japan was going to be? One disappointment after another until her pancreas finally decided to kill her? Cycling between school and her apartment before she is driven into a Japanese hospital bed, paying for their silence about her bald, deteriorating condition? In all of the months she had planned her escape from America, she had never expected to be so distressed and doubtful. Is it possible that Japan could have been a mistake? Her parents could have been right when they had told her to stay in America. Should she go back?

No.

No, and that was a stupid thought. There was nothing more for Ellen Rae Adan in America. She chose this new life because she knew it was best for her. _She_ knew it; not her parents or her "friends". To doubt her decision would be to admit that they were right and she was not going to consent to that while she was still alive. If Japan was the wrong choice, then she would die denying it.

For now, she would have to wonder what she was doing wrong that was making Japan so unpleasant.

"It's this school, probably," she found herself whispering as she settled onto a stone platform in the courtyard (her favorite area of Ouran, so far).

Although, maybe it was not the school. Ouran had its charms when one accepted the over-the-top grandeur of it all. Maybe it was the people. Most of her problems seemed to lie with them. Had she met a decent person since she'd arrived? She pondered.

Ellen vaguely noticed Haruhi Fujioka come into her peripheral vision with a small group of girls. She would not have acknowledged this thought if Haruhi had not said her goodbyes to the flock and made her way towards Ellen's perch.

"Hello again, Adan-sempai," she started with the easy grin she seemed to have mastered, "Sorry if I disturbed you. How has your day been?"

Ellen peered up from her seated position (though, not very far up). Haruhi was in male clothing again. So, it was not a onetime occurrence. She either had the student population fooled, or everyone had come to accept her as a boy. It was curious. It distracted her from her brooding, to say the least.

"Fine." A lie, but a worthless one. "Why are you dressed in the male uniform again?"

Haruhi stumbled over her blunt and probing inquiry but recovered with an easy chuckle.

"It's a long story. Let's just say, it's better for my financial situation if everyone thinks I'm a boy. Actually, if you could keep that between us, I would be very appreciative."

Haruhi needed her gender kept a secret. Fine. Ellen could do that. But why? Her curiosity was eating at her. It appeared as though Japan had that effect. That needed to be handled; curiosity killed that stupid cat, after all. And curiosity had killed her dignity once already.

She still probed further. "What do you mean? I don't understand."

It was evident that Haruhi was uncomfortable speaking about it. Or maybe it was just she was uncomfortable speaking about it outside. She _was_ looking around a lot.

"Ok," she started, the cheer still in her voice, "How about we go to the clubroom, and talk while we drink tea?"

The clubroom. The host club clubroom.

"Nevermind." Ellen stood up to leave.

"Oh yeah," Haruhi continued. Her finger was on her chin and she was looking up, remembering. "And they told me to tell you that we have your uniform and you should come pick it up."

She forgot about the uniform. Was a uniform worth it?

It would probably only take a minute. How much damage could they do in one minute? And it saved her the trouble of trying to find out how to get one herself. She believed she could handle one minute of the Host Club.

"Ok."

Xxxxx

The third music room was just down the hall. Ellen did not have to look at the sign to know it was the third music room; the crashing sounds and excited voices could only have come from a place as unstable as the Host Club's dwelling. Haruhi and Ellen exchanged uneasy glances before Haruhi ran ahead and threw open the double doors. She was swallowed into the room before she could cry out in shock.

The doors slammed. From inside, the turmoil grew louder and more rapid. Ellen was left in the hallway, alone. She reached into her handbag to check the time on her phone. Tohru would not be by for maybe thirty more minutes. If she left Haruhi now, she would still be stuck in the school, bored. But, if she left now, she would be free from whatever insanity was behind those doors. The bothersome, exciting insanity.

But

Haruhi could need her help in there. This could be her chance to make up for not reacting sooner to Tamaki's attack with the curtain. She could actually be in real trouble this time. Little Haruhi was trapped in a secluded room with all of those teenage boys. Ellen might be her only possible rescue.

Taking a defensive crouching position in case they decided to grab her as well, Ellen gripped the handle and yanked the doors open.

"WHY! Why, my daughter, must such a tragedy befall our family?"

None of the members noticed the extra party to Tamaki Suoh's sorrowful wail. He was clutching Haruhi and crying into her shoulder as the rest of the members surrounded them in a near circle, staring with mixed expressions of pity and annoyance.

Tamaki threw his head back and continued his depressive moans. "The banquet is ruined! It's ruined! There's no way we can go on! I'm so sorry!" He relapsed into another fit of hysterical crying into the small girl's coat. Haruhi held her arms up, feebly, clearly debating pushing him off. She uncertainly patted his back.

"Sempai, it's not that bad. Please, calm down; you're hurting my back," she groaned.

Tamaki responded by throwing himself dramatically- but gracefully- onto the ground and crying out, "And now I've caused pain to my only daughter! Leave me, curse! I can take no more!"

He continued to rave for a good minute and a half. Ellen took a few seconds to really look at the décor.

She was surprised, possibly thrilled to see an almost normal, giant room and not the theme to her fifth year birthday party. Everything fairytale had been removed and replaced with elegant, white tables. On these tables were small tealight candles that illuminated silver confetti pieces that were magically kept off of the floor. Three much longer tables held silver tiers of different foods and drink. To top it off, in the center of the high ceiling hung a crystal chandelier with white columns of fabric that led from the lighting to the edges of the ceiling and then poured down the walls. Behind the fabric were hidden speakers playing soft music from various instruments.

It was hard to believe this was the same room designed by the same strange group of people.

"Tamaki, really," Kyouya finally managed to interrupt Tamaki's distraught tirade, "It is unfortunate that the dancers were incapacitated, but that's no reason to cancel the banquet." He had taken to reclining in a nearby dining chair, tired of hearing the whining. "We'll open the dance floor sooner."

In a moment, the blonde was up and at the bespectacled boy's feet. He clutched onto the dark pant legs of Kyouya's uniform and gazed up at him, pitifully. "Mother, you cannot expect us to hold an ordinary banquet! Those dancers were flown in from Berlin especially for us, with our own Haruhi in mind! How can you deprive her poor commoner spirit of the excitement of the trapeze artists? She may never have this opportunity again!"

"Those dancers were for me? I've never said I like that…"

Kyouya pinched the bridge of his nose. "Haruhi, please, don't set him off again." He flipped through a couple of pages in his notebook and landed on a page that he studied for a few seconds. He stood from the chair and turned towards the twins. "Hikaru, Kaoru," he started, sternly, "I left them in your care for the day. Exactly what happened?"

The twins had been watching Tamaki roll around on the floor, but now that he had calmed down, they were starting up a game on their handheld system.

"We don't know," one of them said to the small screen, "The help came over with their lunch and then they had to be driven to the hospital. From what I heard, it wasn't very serious"

The other one finished their thought. "Maybe they were allergic to something in the food." He looked up briefly. "You're the most fluent in German. You couldn't have asked them if they had any food allergies?"

This earned a steely glare from Kyouya. In no time, he was looming over the two boys. The one who had spoken last was curled into a ball underneath his equally frightened brother.

"Deiter has a nut allergy, Adali is highly allergic to bananas and seafood, Werner and Welda are only slightly lactose intolerant." Kyouya listed with restrained hostility. "I emailed your staff all of that information."

The twin cowered behind his human shield. He stammered and looked as if he was about apologize for a while, but surprised everyone and darted for the door. He made it as far as four steps, then stopped when he saw Ellen, who still had one hand on the open door. Everyone discovered Ellen at the same time he did, since they had been following his progress.

Kyouya immediately tried to get rid of her. His anger either gone or tucked away. "I'm sorry, but we're closed for the moment, miss. You'll have to come back at five."

"I invited her," Haruhi defended. "You all remember Adan-sempai, don't you?"

Ellen finally let go of the door handle, taking a step inside and allowing the door to shut behind her. The club was now completely silent. That probably meant they did not remember her. Mitsukuni was the only one to walk up to her.

"Are you a student here?" he asked, gazing over her dress, "You're not wearing the uniform. Who are you?"

There was a small battle inside Ellen to hold in the bitter remark that it was their own fault she was not in the school uniform. Was it only Haruhi that remembered her then? What good fortune. That meant they did not remember her incident either. The apologetic basket of goodies was more than likely sent as an afterthought, with no real meaning behind it.

"Hey!" one of the twins exclaimed, "I remember you! Look, Hikaru, It's the snowman!"

So much for thinking she might be lucky.

The other twin lit up with the memory. "Oh, yeah! Hey, Snowman, you look different when you're not wearing our food." Both boys shared a high five. The angry grinding of Ellen's teeth did nothing to suppress their enjoyment.

"You fiendish twins!" Tamaki suddenly burst forth and wagged a finger in both of their snickering faces. "What this poor girl went through yesterday is nothing to sneer at! It's taking all of her strength to come here after being so humiliated!" He bounded towards Ellen and gripped her hands. "Maiden, if you must cry, do not be ashamed to lean on me for support." Ellen groaned; he was doing his prince act again. From behind him, she saw the twins smile at one another, knowingly.

"Are you supposed to be her knight in shining armor, Boss?" Kaoru challenged, causing Tamaki to turn and fume wordlessly. "What's her name?"

Tamaki's triumphant attitude came to a screeching halt. He paused, eyes wide, stiffly posed with his hands on his hips in a would be obstinate manner that was now just awkward. He darted his attention between the smug twins to the irritated Ellen. Then, he silently pleaded with Kyouya to help him recall her name, to which Kyouya sighed heavily.

"Everyone, allow me to reintroduce Ellen Rae Adan. Second year transfer student from Austin, Texas. Class 2-B with Nasman- sensei. Age seventeen."

The group seemed impressed with Kyouya's horrifyingly large amount of information; except two. The safety of the fake name Ellen had fed them was now gone, and who knew what else he found out? Thousands of dollars went to keeping her medical history a secret, but she felt anxious, nonetheless. While Ellen was in a slight panic, Haruhi was confused. She softly mentioned, "I thought you said her name was Lei-"

"Please try to remember her name this time," Kyouya interrupted. "It doesn't help us to forget our customers."

"Did she say her name was Ellen, Kaoru?" Hikaru mused as he took a seat at one of the dining chairs.

"I suppose," Kaoru answered, "Haven't we met at least two other Ellens?"

"Three. No wonder we forgot such a common American name."

Ellen snapped back indignantly. "It's actually not that common, Kaoru."

"I'm Hikaru," the twin stated, not bothering to look at her. To Kyouya, he said, "Are we going to cancel the banquet or not? I'm tired of picking up after Tono's freak-outs."

"In a minute, Hikaru. Miss Adan, it's not that we don't enjoy your company, but we must prepare for our guests." Kyouya gestured to the standing twin. "Kaoru will escort you to your chauffer, or anywhere else you wish to wait."

Ellen had a small urge to ask for her uniform, but this quiet dismissal was an opportunity she might not get again, so she lifted her hand in polite refusal. "No thank you, Ootori-san. I can manage." She left the room and, judging by the sounds coming from behind the door, they resumed their arguing over the missing dancers.

In less than thirty minutes, Tohru would be here, or was supposed to be here. He had better be here or he was going to be very sorry. Ellen decided to wait at the front of the school.

There were a few students roaming the halls, chatting with friends about something that happened during class, none of them very special. They paid her no mind, as did she. Ellen was reminded of the time she spent in public school. The students had discovered fairly quickly what her financial situation was like. Some treated her with bitter jealousy, others gave her a wide birth out of fear. The few friends she did make did not hesitate to ask her to spend money on them. After a month, she enrolled back in private school, where she could overlook her peers and be overlooked. Ouran was no different.

She was traveling down the staircase, when a shove to the shoulder knocked her out of her daydream. A boy was hastily making his way up the stairs, bumping into a few other students on the way. Ellen frowned and rubbed the spot he hit, but ignored him. She spotted a few first year girls at the bottom of the steps wearing different formal dresses. They were talking excitedly amongst themselves and squealing every few seconds. Obviously, they were waiting for the banquet to start.

What would the banquet be like? Would there be dancing? These girls were dressed so formally; was the club going to dress up as well? Silly costumes would look too strange next to this kind of dress, too strange, even for them. They would probably wear tuxedos. Haruhi, too; she would look cute in one. In Ellen's old closet, hung a flowing, purple piece that she might wear for this kind of event.

Ellen stopped herself. No, she would not wear a flowing, purple dress, because there was no way she would go. They were crazy. Everything they did was crazy. They covered her in food and laughed. So, it's stupid to fantasize about a banquet. Get to the front of the school and wait for Tohru.

Twenty-seven minutes before Tohru would be at the school, Ellen heard a muffled explosion come from the direction she had just been. Her and the rest of the students paused and looked up.

"Did you hear that? It sounded like someone dropped something heavy…"

"It sounded like an explosion to me… should we call someone for help? Maybe we should check it out."

It definitely came from the clubroom. Ellen did not consider for a second that it could have come from anywhere else. Students were hurrying up and down the stairs to either investigate the noise or get away from it. She ran up the stairs and bumped into nearly every single student she passed, including the harried boy that hit her shoulder from before. He almost lost his footing because of her, but righted himself and continued to run down the stairs. She had no time to enjoy that, though; she could see the clubroom doors seeping a thick, gray smoke from the edges.

As the doors opened, the odorless fog poured out and over her. Ellen tore into the room and shut the doors behind her, to keep from attracting attention. She grabbed the nape of her dress and put it over her mouth. Keeping a hand on the wall, she navigated her way along the room for the large windows she remembered seeing at the back. From the middle of the room, the club shouted to each other in tense voices and tripped over the many objects as they tried to make sense of the situation.

Kyouya's voice rang out first. "Is anybody hurt?"

Tamaki's frantic cries outdid him greatly. "The banquet is ruined! There's no way we can go on! Haruhi! Where are you? Kyouya, I can't see anybody!"

"Haruhi," another voice yelled, "Tell Tamaki you're okay! Ouch! Kaoru you stepped on me!"

"Sorry, Hikaru, but I can't see anything! Someone find the door!"

"HARUHI! WHERE ARE YOU, MY DAUGHTER!"

"Sempai, I'm okay," Haruhi called out in a more collected, but still troubled voice. "This smoke is so thick. Don't move around, you're going to hit something."

A loud oof and then groaning came from the direction Tamaki's voice was heard. From a few feet away there was a loud commotion that sounded like chairs and tables being turned over. The sounds were getting closer to Ellen. Mitsukuni's clear, childlike voice resonated with impressive authority. "Takashi, the windows are this way!"

Ellen found the first window and threw it open. The next one was not far, and soon, that one was opened. Within a few short seconds, the visibility improved vastly. She could see the chairs flying from where Takashi and Mitsukuni were heading from. It was the taller of the two that first spotted the already opened windows and Ellen. He frowned in confusion and then Mitsukuni came up from behind him.

"You're here again, Eru-chan?" he questioned, "How did you get in here?"

The suspicion in his voice was masked expertly. It was only by factoring in her position and the timing that she was able to notice the hidden accusation. Takashi's expression was all the evidence she needed to know he suspected her as well. Theirs was a silent exchange; Ellen defiantly met Takashi's wary leer. His hard eyes eventually softened; he looked to Mitsukuni and answered for her.

"She opened the windows, Mitsukuni."

Mitsukuni calculated behind his naïve expression. He smiled and Ellen knew she was no longer suspect. He ran up and hugged her hips. "Thank you for helping us!"

As Ellen awkwardly tried to keep her balance, the room cleared to near full visibility. A path of overturned tables and chairs led to the middle of the room where Ellen had left the Host club standing. Tamaki lay hunched on the floor a foot away, groaning as the twins poked him while stifling giggles. Haruhi was examining some cylindrical, black object. Kyouya was nowhere to be seen.

Mitsukuni released his hold on Ellen's lower body. He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the middle of the room. "Look, everybody! Look, I found Eru-chan opening the windows! She was helping us!"

Haruhi looked up from her investigation. "Oh, Adan-sempai, you're back. Someone threw a smoke bomb in here." Thin streams of lazy smoke rose from the object she had been prodding. It was a shoddy, handmade thing; something meant to explode, but not harm. The plastic was melted but there were no shards anywhere. It was possibly a prank.

The doors opened, sending everybody on edge. Kyouya walked in without expression, turned, and locked the doors. He took off his glasses. As he spoke, he wiped them with a small cloth he pulled from his pocket. "Nobody saw who it was. They were at least intelligent enough to throw it when the hall was empty. Haruhi, don't touch that with your hands. It's our only piece of evidence."

Ellen was outside when the bomb exploded. Shouldn't she have seen a suspicious person? There was only a bunch of running kids. The girls, the students on the steps; nobody was dressed suspiciously, or acted as such.

Except for one. One she would more than enjoy turning in.

"I know who did it," Ellen said. And she believed it. That boy was the only one running around that area. Everyone else was waiting for it to turn five.

The club turned to her collectively. All of the eyes on her made her a little uncomfortable. She found herself taking a step backward into Takashi's strong frame. He placed a hand on her head and looked solemnly into her eyes. "Tell us," he said. The rest of the club urged her on as well.

"I saw him running down the stairs," she started, "I think he did it. He was short, and he had brown hair parted like this." Ellen ran her hands through the top of her hair until she had a part in the right side. She pushed it back to show that the boy's hair had been combed back.

One of the twins left Tamaki's side, possibly because the blonde had long since stopped reacting to their pokes. "Is that all?" he asked Ellen, impatiently, "Brown hair? Short? You just limited our suspects to 40% of the students."

Ellen internally growled. "Oh yeah, he told me his name, number, and address as we passed each other on the stairs," she snapped without a trace of humor in her voice, "I didn't have time to write it down though, I'm sorry." The twin scoffed and headed back to his brother.

Mitsukuni tugged on the hem of her skirt. He gave her a mournful stare. "Think, Eru-chan. Can you tell us anything else?"

His expression was too pitiable for her to fight. She shut her eyes and thought hard of the peculiar boy who had hit her in the shoulder. Short with brown hair. That was all she could recall of him. She barely caught a glimpse of his face. Wait, there _was_ something else.

"He had a sprained wrist. He was wearing a brace on it." Ellen remembered seeing the black, cast-like covering when he reached for the railing to keep from falling. It had been covered by his uniform, but she recognized the stiff reach and the cloth like covering that stopped at the base of his fingers. She had sprained her wrist skating when she was fifteen and wore something similar.

Kyouya wrote furiously in his notebook. "That narrows it down to a much smaller group, Adan-san, thank you. I'll have caught our prankster before lunch tomorrow. But, this is a bit more serious than I would like to admit" He closed the book. "Someone is trying to sabotage the banquet. If we don't cancel it, he'll attack again," he stated.

The atmosphere stiffened uncomfortably. The fidgeting and activity halted to a complete stop. When he heard the banquet was the target, Tamaki slumped into a chair, very disturbed. He stared at the floor, an un-dramatized depressive expression donned. It was strange to see such a change in the usually animated boy. Haruhi spoke up.

"What if they're just pulling pranks on the Host Club?"

Kyouya shook his head. "Tamaki has been talking about the entertainment for weeks. He planned this entire banquet around it. That must have been why they fell ill today, now that we have no time to plan anything else."

One of the twins hopefully suggested, "Then, it has to be somebody in your class. We can catch him, and we won't have to cancel the banquet, right?"

"No, he mentioned it during club hours, too," Haruhi said.

"Then, it's someone in your class, or one of the boy visitors," the twin persisted. Takashi's deep voice replied.

"He said it at lunch."

"Is it my fault?" Tamaki suddenly muttered.

Everyone, including Ellen, turned to the saddened blonde. "If I would have never foolishly boasted about the foreign dancers, if I had never planned anything in the first place, no one would want to target us."

The room was silent.

For reasons lost to her, Ellen could not help but feel a small, tiny, miniscule amount of pity for the president of the Host Club. She hoped it would be gone as soon as he was up and back to his annoying self. she wanted to leave again. Coming back the third time was a monumental mistake. She did not think when she heard the explosion; she just came barreling in on pure impulse. Now, as punishment for her recklessness, leaving them at a time like this was going to be difficult. Maybe, she could sneak out while their focus is on Tamaki.

The first move in her plan was to back up and duck behind the remaining upright tables. This was halfway executed, but a hand landed on her shoulder and extinguished all hope for escape. Kyouya Ootori cocked his head towards the back of the room. "I have to discuss something with you," he commanded more than asked.

It was because of Tamaki's scene. If he had not thrown her so far out of her equilibrium, she could have easily said no to Kyouya. Because of Tamaki, she begrudgingly followed the vice president.

He did not wait to stop walking before beginning to talk. "Adan-san, I need you to help the Host Club one more time."

"What do you mean?"

"You'll have to stay here during the banquet. You're the only one who saw the saboteur. You can identify him quicker than anyone else if he was to return." Ellen struggled to keep Kyouya's gaze. If she let up for even a moment, her resolve would be completely lost, and it would be impossible to say no. In the back of her mind, Ellen realized Tohru would be at the front of the school in less than ten minutes.

"What makes you think he's going to come back?"

Kyouya's intensity broke for a tiny smile. "Because, we're not going to cancel the banquet. He hasn't won, so he'll come back until he forces us to shut it down. All I'm asking is that you stay and keep an eye out for him."

Tohru is probably waiting for her at the front of the school.

Xxxxx

"Mori-sempai is going to be watching for your signal. You must spot the boy quickly, before he has time to act."

Ellen flicked one of the sparkly confetti pieces off of the table. Kyouya had been talking to her while adjusting his bowtie, so it was fine if it looked like she was not paying attention. He glanced at her and chuckled softly.

"What's the signal, Adan-san?" he asked.

"I wave this flashlight around." She turned on the pink, miniature flashlight they gave her and waved the beam of light around, catching him in the eyes a few times, purposely. It knocked the smirk off of his face, at least.

"Precisely. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must greet the guests." He bowed to her and walked away to join the rest of the club who were standing before the doors. Behind them, shrieking girls were held at bay, waiting for the signal to begin the invasion on the clubroom. Kyouya grabbed the handles and looked back, checking their positioning one last time. Satisfied, he opened the doors, and the club chorused together.

"Welcome."

Xxxxx

Ellen sent a text to Tohru before the banquet began that instructed him to go home and wait for her call so he could pick her up.

That was twenty minutes ago.

How long was this guy going to keep her waiting? It was getting to the point where Ellen did not care what the attack was going to be, so long as it happened soon.

The front right corner of the room was chosen as the best place to watch for the boy. It was close enough to the door to be able to catch him early, but far enough away to flash her light without him seeing. She was mostly alone in this corner. The majority of guests had chosen the center of the room to congregate and dance and watch others dance.

Bored and annoyed with the tardiness of the amateur terrorist, she grabbed a nearby napkin and began to rip into it with her fork. The napkin was beginning to take on a crude doglike shape, when the boy nicknamed Hunny appeared next to her and placed a piece of angel food cake in front of Ellen. His expectant grin was partially hidden by the table he almost could not see over.

"I brought you some cake," he stated, as if she could not see the monstrous slice.

"I don't want it," Ellen grumbled to the now one-legged dog napkin. She tossed it onto the floor and grabbed the next place setting's napkin. "You eat it. You seem to be fond of cake."

The boy's face fell for a second. After this initial disappointment, he appeared to have an internal war. He obviously wanted the cake, but did not know how long to continue to offer it to Ellen before it was okay for him to take it for himself. The one time was apparently enough; the cake was halfway gone by the time Ellen made the first slice for the belly of her new creation. Mitsukuni happily pulled up a chair and shoved another forkful of cake into his mouth, miraculously keeping it from landing on his tuxedo.

"Do you want to dance, Eru-chan?" he said between bites, "You look bored sitting here by yourself."

"No. I can't see the door as well from the dance floor."

Blatantly ignoring her reply, Mitsukuni asked, "Are you afraid to dance? Takashi is a good dancer. He can teach you how to be good fast."

"I know how to dance, Haninozuka-san…" She did her best to keep her voice level and free of irritation.

"Or you could ask Tama-chan or Kyo-chan. Hika-chan and Kao-chan are good dancers, too, but I don't think you want to dance with them right now. They're trying to see who gets asked the most times. I know you wouldn't want to be part of that." His assumption was punctuated with a chuckle that was complex and unnatural for someone his size. Ellen was suddenly very aware that this boy _actually _wasolder than her. Admittedly, she did not believe it when the lunchroom girls tried to tell her his age.

It was apparent now, that she had been talking down to him for most of the time they had interacted with each other. It was also apparent that he was smart enough to realize it, but went along with it anyway. She felt embarrassed and confused- maybe even a little offended- and was unsure how to speak to him, now. "Haninozuka, I'm here to do a job," she grimaced at how over-the-top serious her tone became, "The sooner I catch this guy, the sooner I can go home."

"That sounds kind of lonely, Eru-chan. Do you really want to go home and be alone in your apartment?"

A girl almost as small as Mitsukuni bounced her way over and began to pull him out of his chair. "Hunny-chan, come dance with me!"

Mitsukuni allowed the girl to drag him away, but not before turning back to Ellen and shouting, "You should dance, Eru-chan! It'll be fun!"

Ellen accidentally tore her paper cat in half. She accidentally tore those halves, as well. It was a good thing he left at that time. Her anger might have been directed at something other than her paper creatures.

Mitsukuni Haninozuka thinks the innocent act can just allow him to say anything he wants and not have to deal with the consequences. What did he think he knew about her? They were perfect strangers, but he knew exactly how she felt about her living arrangements? And how did he find out about her apartment?

It was that damn Kyouya. He obviously had researched her as he did the dancers; the egocentric prattling of her basic information made that clear. Not only that, but he had shared that information with his insane club members. If there had been hope of her forgiving him for his snooping, it was demolished the moment Mitsukuni mentioned the apartment.

The doors opened.

Ellen had to stow her anger away for the moment. The flashlight that had been moved to her pocket was now in her hand. A quick glance to the floor revealed that Takashi was close enough to make this a speedy capture. Her thumb was on the switch, all she needed was a positive I.D. and she would flip it and finally be rid of him.

Two girls ran into the room, the clicks of their heels growing louder and then softer as they hurried past Ellen and into the arms of Tamaki. Then the doors slid shut.

Nothing. False alarm. Ellen returned the flashlight to her jacket pocket. She slammed her head down on the table and groaned.

"What's your problem?" two voices asked, causing a second, louder groan.

"Go away," she warned, turning her head to the side (the side the twins weren't standing) so she could speak. Of course, they shrugged off her demand and took up two seats beside her. The one on the left, with the purple vest underneath his tux, crossed his legs and stared off into the crowd; the other- wearing a blue vest- picked Ellen's paper shreddings from under her. He was the one to speak first.

"If you're bored, go dance or talk to somebody. No one is making you sit here."

"How am I supposed to catch him if I'm parading around like one of these love struck girls?" Ellen spat with bitterness, "I'm not here to enjoy this banquet."

"You're not enjoying it because you won't let yourself enjoy it." the one with the crossed legs answered. "We told you to watch for him, not isolate yourself in a corner like a depressive shut-in. If you remember, you _were _invited_._" Ellen lifted up her head and glared- not at him, but at the table. She did not have an argument ready for that, and was pissed. As she expected, the twin enjoyed that he had her beat. He scoffed and stood back up. "Come on, Kaoru, she doesn't want us here. And I have to keep my lead, anyway."

His brother playfully hit his arm as they walked away. "You're only winning by two, I'll catch up."

"Yeah, maybe if you pretend to be me."

The rest of their bantering faded away as they returned to their guests. Ellen was left with her dismembered animal papers. Her cheeks burned with flustered outrage. What the hell was she doing here? They didn't need her help, she already told them what he looked like. Then why were they keeping her here? Well, she was not going to stay and take this anymore. She hoped the guy tossed in a grenade this time.

The doors closed.

And then they opened? No. That's not the order. When had they opened? Ellen searched the room. She could see no one that she had not noted before already. There was no way to know if it was him or more latecomers. Those damn twins distracted her and now they were all in danger. She had to search for him. He did not appear to be at the tables so she mentally planned the most effective route around the room and executed her search.

Something told her it was him. Somehow she knew it. It had to be him or why would it be so hard to find out who came in? He would have every reason to enter as silently as possible and quickly disappear. Now, she just needed to find him and promptly. If only she knew what he was planning, she would not have to inspect every male guest's right arm.

Dance floor, clear.

Food tables, clear.

"Hey! You stepped on my dress!"

Ellen saw a girl tugging her dress away from a boy in a plain black suit. The girl rolled her eyes and turned back to her conversation partner and the boy hurried away from the scene. He was almost running. That is what made Ellen notice him. She did not have to see the black brace on his right arm. She knew she would get the chance when she caught up to him.

He led her away from the guests and into a section of the room that was hidden from the open area. She did not know what the area was for, there was no time to look around. With a burst of speed, she flung herself into his sight and pointed her finger at him.

"Freeze!"

He fell over in shock. The door of the utility closet that he had opened swung and hit him on the head, laying him flat on his back.

"I know what you're doing!" In truth, she did not. That did not stop her from saying it.

The boy scrambled back onto his feet and stared at Ellen with panicked, brown eyes. If she had to guess, he was a second year; an average (in Ouran terms) sixteen to seventeen year old that did not stand out from the rest of the students- except for the cast-like brace on his arm. He looked at the open closet and then past her, as if to escape. Ellen instinctively spread her legs and held her arms out, a nonverbal warning against trying to get away. He recoiled.

"You're caught. Give up-"

The next thing she felt was a slam into her body as she was forced down onto the floor with a tackle. She cried out with effort as she swung against his grasps. One of her fists met his chin but the other attempts only hit air. He was strong for someone his size. Even though she was two inches taller, she could not fight him off. He gripped her legs and dragged her into a room closed off by a curtain, where there were many colorful costumes. With impressive speed he wrapped a scarf around her mouth, and used two pairs of pants to bind her legs and hands.

As he was doing this he constantly apologized. "I'm sorry, miss, but you can't stop me." He stood up once she was completely tied and made to exit the room. "The Host Club has to pay for what they did." He pushed the curtain back and was about to be out of her sight but he looked back to her. "I'll come untie you when I'm done, Ok? I don't want you to get hurt…"

Ellen gave him the most hostile expression she could muster behind the scarf. He frowned and let the curtain fall back down behind him.

She pulled against her arm restraints; they felt like the looser bunch. Her hands were slipping free, but it was coming away too slowly. He would have already done what it was he had planned before she could even get halfway out. The next plan was to leave the curtained room. She pulled her legs forward in order to get enough leverage and stability so she could lift her upper body and be in a sitting position. It would have been difficult and almost pointless to try to stand- she would probably only fall over- so she scooted her way out of the room.

The boy had gone into the closet. She knew this because the door was still open and she heard movement inside. If she was quiet enough, she could probably trap him inside.

Moving as fast as she dared, Ellen shuffled her way to the open door, pausing when she heard him make a loud noise. As soon as she was close enough, she kicked the door closed and threw herself in front of it. The boy immediately began ramming into the door wildly. Ellen's body was being painfully forced away as it rubbed against the floor and received the blows of the wooden door.

The boy yelled franticly, repeatedly, "Let me out!"

The pants around her arms were now loose enough for one final tug. Her wrist slipped out and the pants fell away, freeing her to reach up and turn the deadbolt lock on the closet. When he felt that the door was no longer moving with his efforts, the boy pounded on the door and screamed even louder.

"No! I'm claustrophobic! Let me out! I can't breathe!"

Ellen pulled off her scarf gag, and then worked to untie the pants around her legs. The terrorist had been caught; she did not have to hurry. And, to be honest, she was enjoying hearing his frightened screams. They must have been what attracted the Host Club. Tamaki ran into the area followed by Kyouya, Takashi, the rest of the club and a few of the guests.

"Adan-san, what happened ?" Tamaki asked, "Who's in the closet?" Takashi had been ready to open the closet, but paused to hear Ellen's answer.

"Who do you think it is?" she snapped. Kyouya held out a hand to her. She took it and allowed herself to be lifted up. Her sides and wrists hurt, but she was more preoccupied with pounding back on the door and yelling to the boy. "I said you were caught, idiot! What was the point of tying me up?"

Mitsukuni walked up and grabbed her wrist to lead her away (he moved his grip up to her forearm when she winced) Takashi opened the door to the closet. The boy trapped inside burst out and clung to Takashi with all of his strength, panting hard and sweating profusely from his brow. It took both Kyouya and Hikaru to pry him off. He fell to the floor and did not attempt to get up. He turned his head away from the whispering crowd.

Kyouya crouched down to his level. "Did you poison the dancers?"

The boy nodded once.

"Did you throw the smoke bomb?"

Again, the boy nodded.

"You have to see this." Kaoru called from inside the closet. No one saw how or when he got in there, but he was backing out as if there was an explosive inside. Takashi carefully moved past Kaoru and entered the closet. There was low and repetitive squeaking sound that Ellen could not place, until Takashi came out. He was pulling a stock cart with a very large tank of tan dirt.

"What is that?" Tamaki asked, about to put his hand into the open top and poke the insides. Haruhi grabbed his arm quickly.

"It's ants," she said. Tamaki drew his hand back as he would if the dirt was fire. Haruhi continued. "It's an ant farm. Why is an ant farm in the utility closet?"

"It's obvious," Ellen answered, "He was going to release them in here and ruin the banquet."

The crowd gasped and a few guests screamed. They all backed away, the threat of being covered with ants was still very real. The caught terrorist on the floor might as well have not been there. A girl with curly brown hair and a short, pink dress broke away from the growing crowd and came up to the tank of ants. Recognition showed in her eyes.

"These are the ants from the environmental education club. That's ten thousand ants!" she said, astonished, "How did you get them up here? And without anybody noticing?"

The boy who still would not look anybody in the eye answered softly. "I picked the lock to the door and hid them in this closet while everybody was in class."

"Wait a minute," Haruhi interrupted, "Wouldn't the environment club have wondered where the ants went?"

Kyouya replied for him. "They haven't been meeting for the past four days. The location of their clubroom is being moved to a greenhouse at the back of the school." He was reading off of a page in his notebook. He flipped a page and continued. "Anyone who saw that the ants were missing in the clubroom would assume they had already been moved. The opposite would be true for someone in the greenhouse. Not the worst plan, if it was implemented correctly."

"No, that's not a bad plan," the twins echoed, "But how did you get it up the stairs?"

"With difficulty…" the boy mumbled.

The crowd responded with murmurs of awe. The terrorist was winning them over.

"ooh… it would be hard…"

"It's kind of brilliant, don't you think?"

Ellen was becoming impatient. He tied her up and she would probably have bruises around her wrist and stomach for days. He was going to be punished. "You could have put a lot of people in the hospital," she scolded, "What were you thinking?"

The boy snapped his head up. He stared at her with a newfound excitement. "No, that's why I didn't choose bees. People are allergic to bees," he explained earnestly. "I didn't want to hurt anyone, just scare them away."

"People can be allergic to ants, too," Ellen berated mercilessly, "If you researched it even a little bit, you would have known that. But, you didn't think, and you risked lives."

He looked over the crowd that had now began to turn against him again. He solemnly repeated, "I didn't want to hurt anybody…" his gaze came to rest on Tamaki. The ferocity in his stare made the blonde jump and freeze in terror. "I wanted to get back at you!" he growled.

"Me?" Tamaki cried, hands on his chest, "Why would you want to target me?"

The boy stood up now, his anger giving him courage and resolve. He defiantly stood against all of the host club - which was a bold feat, he was shorter than nearly all of them. "You see? You don't even realize what you've done. You oblivious fool!" Tamaki cowered dramatically at this. "Do you know who Tomomi Aramata is?" He did not wait for Tamaki to answer- though, it was apparent Tamaki was searching his memory for her. "She dumped me for your stupid antics. And then when she confessed to you, you broke her heart and turned her away. That's two hearts you've broken, Suoh! I vowed that your precious banquet would become your greatest disaster."

"No!"

The cry came from somewhere near the back of the crowd. The guests made a pathway for a small, harrowed girl to run up and throw herself into the arms of the terrorist. Her red face was shiny with tears. Forgetting his anger at Tamaki, the boy startled and then pulled her in.

"Hiroaki, I had no idea I hurt you so badly!" the girl choked between sobs, "I'm so sorry!"

Hiroaki smiled sadly, the smile of a criminal awaiting his sentence. "It's ok, Tomomi. I forgive you. I'm sorry I did all this." He stepped back and ruffled her hair. "Maybe we can visit each other when I get breaks from my new school. My time at Ouran is over."

"No, Hiroaki…" Tomomi whimpered.

"Never have I heard such a tragic tale…" Tamaki interrupted quietly. "To risk everything for the one you love…Tomomi is right," Tamaki suddenly declared. A closer look revealed narrow streams of his own tears running from his eyes. He raised a defiant fist and shouted, "No, Hiroaki, you are not leaving Ouran! The Host Club forgives you of your transgressions! We will take every measure to make sure you are not expelled!"

"What?" the Host Club, Ellen, Tomomi, and Hiroaki blurted.

The crowd erupted in applause and bravos. Dozens of handkerchiefs were pulled out to dry the joyful tears of the many weeping girls. Kyouya sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. The twins stared confoundedly at the group with Haruhi, the couple, and Mitsukuni and Takashi. Ellen rubbed a headache that was forming at her temples.

It was all a waste.

"My wonderful guests!" Tamaki crowed jubilantly, "I'm afraid the banquet has come to an early end. From the bottom of my heart, I thank you for attending. Kyouya, let's see if we can't get these ants out of here."

Xxxxx

"That turned out better than expected," Kaoru mused while he shook the table cloth of food and sparkly confetti. "I would have rigged slime to come out of the sprinklers. To each his own, I guess."

Mitsukuni was clearing the food tables of their confections. "Yeah, the guests were excited, even though it only lasted an hour. They said they were definitely coming to the next one."

"A tale of love and sacrifice can move even the steeliest of hearts," Tamaki sang as he twirled with the broomstick. "Don't you think, Haruhi?"

"I think it's good that they got back together."

"Just what I was thinking, dearest! We are of one dazzling mind!"

Ellen was listening to them prattle on about what an unexpected success the banquet was and rubbing antibacterial ointment she found in their restroom on her mild case of wrist rug burn. They had all just returned the ants to their proper place and had a very long, boring but revealing talk with the chairman over the incidents. Revealing because, as it turned out, Tamaki was the chairman's son. Hiroaki got off with little more than a slap on the wrist thanks to this. So, they returned to the clubroom to clean since they had expected the night to run late. It was eight thirty and Ellen had answered Tohru's calls a total of five times, each time saying "not yet" or "I'll call you" or "can't you wait quietly?" She did not feel like cleaning up, so it was decided now was a good time to ask for her dress.

Kyouya was not sitting far away, just far enough to have to speak a fraction louder than normal.

"You said you had a uniform for me, Ootori. I'd like it now, please."

"You're not leaving are you, Eru-chan?" Mitsukuni called from behind the long tables that had previously held a feast. He dropped the plastic sack into the large garbage can and ran up to the couch she was lounging on. "We were about to play a game. It's called 'kagome kagome'. We'll explain the rules to you!"

"No, thanks. I just want my dress. It's late."

Tamaki Suoh dropped what he was doing as well and pranced over. "Yes, Adan-san, kagome kagome is quite fun! And there is no school tomorrow so we can play all night!" He reached out for Ellen's hands, but a certain boy wearing glasses pushed him away. Tamaki slid on the marble floor and looked up pitifully at Kyouya. "You're so mean to me, Mommy…"

Kyouya ignored him and smiled down to Ellen from his standing position. "What we mean to say, Adan-san, is that we are grateful for your help tonight and we would like to thank you."

"We don't want you to leave!" Mitsukuni exclaimed, sadly. He grabbed her uninjured wrist and shook it with emphasis. "We don't want you to be alone in your apartment." A few feet past Mitsukuni, Takashi was lifting a table and nodding his head in agreement.

"Jeez, Honey, you're going to scare her away," the twin Ellen thought was Hikaru remarked. "She won't stay if you keep pressuring her." Ellen had a hard time determining if he was serious. His tone was suggesting either sarcasm or disinterest. It still worked. Mitsukuni clamped both hands on his mouth and fidgeted in place.

Haruhi had joined their group now. She was calmly folding the table cloths what-might-have-been-Kaoru pulled off. "Will you come back?" she asked Ellen, not stopping her work. "I think it's safe to say we all want to see you here again."

"Yeah, Snowman," maybe-Hikaru added, "You're kind of useful to us. You're not afraid to get your hands dirty. And you have like a… What am I thinking of, Kaoru?"

"Killer instinct," Kaoru supplied. Hikaru snapped his fingers and nodded.

"That's it. You took him down without any hesitation. Like a hunter. Have you hunted?"

Ellen did have a knack for shooting cans, but she did not feel the need to say that right now. "I have to go," she said instead, only half-expecting them to actually listen. The other half had been right. Mitsukuni jumped on her arm again, unable to contain himself any longer.

"Come back everyday, Eru-chan! We can eat cake, and drink tea, and you can tell us about America and we'll do whatever you want!" His eyes widened even more as a revolutionary thought occurred to him. He could not hold back the wide grin that spread across his face. "You can join the Host Club!"

"What? No. I'm not going to-"

"Yes! Honey-sempai, you're a genius!" Tamaki shouted, fully recovered from Kyouya's abuse. "She'll be the first female member of the Club!" He glanced over at Haruhi. "You know what I mean…" He began to pace the floor as he let his mind run wild with the idea that she had never agreed to. "Of course, she won't host but she can… um- she can… Aha! She can be Kyouya's assistant!" Kyouya and Ellen looked to each other with the same expression of distaste for the proposition.

"No no no no no, wait a minute," Ellen began, waving her arms in front of her.

"Tamaki, you're getting ahead of yourself. I don't need an assistant," Kyouya calmly retaliated more than replied.

"I only came to get my dress."

"My methods are purely my own."

"You all are the ones who forced me to stay."

"I will not share my information with a perfect stranger."

Tamaki heard their arguments with a patient smirk- the kind of smirk that made it obvious to all that he was not listening, only humoring. He interrupted them. "You are aware that you must join a club, aren't you, Adan-san?" This was very effective in stopping at least Ellen's side of the argument. She took the bait.

"What do you mean?" It came out more suspicious sounding than she liked.

All he had to do was reel it in. "It is a requirement that all students must be a member of a club for the school year." He left that thought to simmer with Ellen. Kyouya, he knew, would take more convincing. "Kyouya, wouldn't you like to have more time to yourself? You often say you don't get much sleep. Think of what you could accomplish if Adan-san was to take up some of the work running the Host Club requires! I don't know why we haven't thought of this before! The rest of us are busy with hosting duties, but Adan-san has no duties to speak of!"

Was he calling her lazy?

Kyouya lifted his hand to his chin. His brow furrowed with contemplation. "That is an interesting thought."

"Hey! I still haven't said yes!"

Mitsukuni embraced her arm tightly. His brown eyes glistened with threatening tears. "Please, Eru-chan? You like us, don't you?" It was not only Mitsukuni that was staring expectantly. Haruhi was smiling and nodding as if to say "Yes! Join us!" The twins were less enthusiastic, but were sending a similar appeal. Even Takashi's blank expression held a certain edge to it. Their energy was transferring to Ellen and making her anxious. Like how she felt when she could not say no to Kyouya's request. Oh no. She was about to accept.

"… I absolutely have to join a club?"

Kyouya was scribbling into his notebook and typing numbers into a handheld calculator. He had left the conversation. Tamaki beamed with accomplishment.

"Yes, that is the truth."

Seven against one was not fair. Not fair at all.

"I will not be an assistant."

The club held their breaths, Tamaki's smile clenched with doubt, and Ellen sighed. She was so disappointed in herself. "I can be… secretary… of the Host Club."

Xxxxx

"Miss Adan, you're sighing awfully hard. Is there anything wrong?"

Tohru took his eyes off the road to see Ellen rub her temples in the rearview mirror. The headache was imaginary, but she could not keep her hands still.

"Tohru, what is Japan like? I think manga lied to me."

He laughed. The lights of passing cars illuminated his smile.

"You've only been here for two days. Give it a little more time and you can see for yourself."

Time.

Everything needed time. Her time was being stolen from her everywhere she went.

"Hey, can we stop by Tokyo University?"

He glanced at the mirror again.

"Are you sure? It's kinda late…"

"Yes. I just want to see the clock."

He might have been upset that she was taking his time away from him, but Ellen was not to be bothered with that. She deserved a little of someone else's time. They had more of it.

"Yes ma'am."

* * *

FINALLY done with the freaking rewrites. I hate my life. .'


End file.
